METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ADAPTIVE BANDWITH CONTROL FOR REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION

• US 20070086485A1
• Filed: 11/16/2006
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Vega-Garcia, Andres, Han, Mu, Huai, Qianbo
• Granted Patent: US 7,554,922 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/468
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/115 using a dedicated packet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/263 Rate modification at the source after receiving feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/283 in response to processing delays, e.g. caused by jitter or round trip time [RTT]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method and system for dynamically altering the transmission settings of one or more computing devices engaged in a real-time communication session is presented. The devices exchange meaningful and dummy control packets according to a standard control protocol. The approximate bandwidth available on the network is then calculated based on the difference in arrival times between at least one of the dummy control packets and at least one of the meaningful control packets. Once the approximate bandwidth available on the network is computed, the one or more devices adjust outgoing audio and video data streams using a quality control mechanism. The quality control mechanism enables the one or more devices to transmit data in a way that maximizes the user experience during the real-time communication session.

Claims

1-30. -30. (canceled)

31. A system for optimizing real-time communications between one or more devices on a network, the system comprising:

one or more devices coupled to the network for transmitting one or more meaningful control packets and one or more dummy control packets during the real-time communication; and

a quality control mechanism residing on at least one device for adjusting the data transmission settings of the one device based on the difference in arrival times between at least one of the meaningful control packets and at least one of the dummy control packets.

32. The system of claim 31 further comprising a network application residing on at least one of the devices.

33. The system of claim 31 wherein the one or more devices generate the one or more meaningful control packets and one or more dummy control packets according to the same control protocol.

34. The system of claim 31 wherein the one or more devices compute the difference in arrival times between at least one of the meaningful control packets and at least one of the dummy control packets.

35. A system for optimizing a streaming media session occurring between one or more remote devices on a network, the system comprising:

means for receiving one or more meaningful control packets from at least one remote device, the one or more meaningful control packets being usable to maintain a quality of service during the streaming media session;

means for receiving one or more dummy control packets from at least one remote device, the format of the dummy control packets and the format of the meaningful control packets conforming to a same control protocol;

means for approximating available bandwidth on the network based on the difference in arrival times between at least one of the meaningful control packets and at least one of the dummy control packets; and

means for adjusting data transmission settings of the one or more remote devices based on the available bandwidth on the network.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the means for approximating computes a quotient resulting from the division of a size determined for at least one of the meaningful control packets and at least one of the dummy control packets by the difference in arrival times of at least one of the meaningful control packets and at least one of the dummy control packets.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein the means for adjusting configures at least one of the remote devices such that its data transmission settings correspond to a configuration matrix that is accessible by the one or more remote devices.

38. A computer-readable medium embedded with computer-executable instructions for optimizing real-time communication between remote devices on a network, by a method comprising:

receiving a meaningful control packet from a remote device at an arrival time;

receiving a dummy control packet from the remote device at an arrival time, the dummy control packet and the meaningful control packet having a format conforming to a same control protocol; and

approximating bandwidth available on the network based on the difference in arrival times between the meaningful control packet and the dummy control packet.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 further comprising reporting the approximated bandwidth to the remote device.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 including adjusting data transmission setting between the remote devices based on the approximated bandwidth.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the approximating includes computing a quotient resulting from the division of the size of the meaningful control packet by the difference in arrival times of the meaningful control packet and dummy control packet.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the approximating comprises computing a bandwidth limit as the minimum of a local bandwidth, remote bandwidth, application bandwidth, and estimated bandwidth.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 42 wherein the computing comprises selecting the bandwidth limit as the bandwidth available on the network when no data is reported as lost over the network.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the approximating comprises determining bandwidth available on the network as the smaller of a current bandwidth or a previously allocated bandwidth when meaningful control packets and dummy control packets are reported as lost over the network.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 44 wherein the smaller of the current bandwidth or the previously allocated bandwidth is deducted by an amount representing a percentage of the meaningful control packets and dummy control packets lost.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the approximating comprises determining bandwidth available on the network as the larger of a current bandwidth or a previously allocated bandwidth when no meaningful control packets and dummy control packets are reported as lost over the network.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the approximating comprises increasing the bandwidth available on the network by a designated factor when a bandwidth limit is determined to be greater in value than the bandwidth available on the network by the same designated factor.