Method for channel congestion management
First Claim
1. In a two-way satellite communication system having a plurality of upstream channels for communicating information from a plurality of subscriber terminals to a gateway hub and a plurality of virtual downstream channels for communicating information from the gateway to a selection of the subscriber terminals, a method for managing data traffic in the satellite communication system having true random access with more than one transmission present at the same time, the method comprising the steps of:
- transmitting information as data on one of the virtual downstream channels in response to information transmitted on at least one of the upstream channels;
estimating channel load of multiple users in multiple simultaneous access in the upstream channels;
calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using said estimate of channel load;
selecting a current congestion threshold value;
thenat each said subscriber terminal, performing an experiment comparing the congestion threshold value with a random number to obtain a transmission value determinative of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by each said terminal; and
regulating the transmission of packets in the upstream channels according to said transmission value so that the transmitted load from all said terminals has a rate of packet transmission that is less than the congestion threshold value times the offered load to the terminal, and the virtual downstream channels bear a more evenly distributed load.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for managing data traffic in a multi-user multiple-simultaneous-access (MUMSA) environment, for example in a code reuse multiple access (CRMA) environment or other physical environment having true random access with more than one transmission present at the same time, the method including estimating channel load for multiple users, then using the estimate of channel load to calculate a congestion threshold on an ongoing basis, at each terminal performing an experiment using that congestion threshold value and a random number generator to determine if a packet is eligible to be transmitted, transferring downstream virtual channel traffic and redistributing user terminals to affiliate with the proper downstream virtual channel.
55 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. In a two-way satellite communication system having a plurality of upstream channels for communicating information from a plurality of subscriber terminals to a gateway hub and a plurality of virtual downstream channels for communicating information from the gateway to a selection of the subscriber terminals, a method for managing data traffic in the satellite communication system having true random access with more than one transmission present at the same time, the method comprising the steps of:
-
transmitting information as data on one of the virtual downstream channels in response to information transmitted on at least one of the upstream channels; estimating channel load of multiple users in multiple simultaneous access in the upstream channels; calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using said estimate of channel load; selecting a current congestion threshold value;
thenat each said subscriber terminal, performing an experiment comparing the congestion threshold value with a random number to obtain a transmission value determinative of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by each said terminal; and regulating the transmission of packets in the upstream channels according to said transmission value so that the transmitted load from all said terminals has a rate of packet transmission that is less than the congestion threshold value times the offered load to the terminal, and the virtual downstream channels bear a more evenly distributed load. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method for managing data traffic in a multiple-user environment having true random access with more than one transmission present at the same time, the method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving signals from said multiple users; calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using an estimate of channel load; selecting a current congestion threshold value;
thenat each said terminal, performing an experiment comparing the congestion threshold value with a random number to obtain a transmission value determinative of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by each said terminal; and transmitting packets through a terminal while throttling the random transmission of packets according to said transmission value so that the transmitted load from all said terminals has a rate of packet transmission that is less than the congestion threshold value times the offered load to the terminal.
-
-
12. A method for managing data traffic in a multiple-user environment having true random access with more than one transmission present at the same time, the method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving signals from said multiple users; calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using an estimate of channel load; selecting a current congestion threshold value;
thenat each said terminal, performing an experiment comparing the congestion threshold value with a random number to obtain a transmission value determinative of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by each said terminal; assigning users of a potentially congested virtual downstream channel to another virtual downstream channel to which the downstream packet streams have been reassigned, and receiving the reassigned packet streams. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. In a two-way satellite communication system, a method for managing data traffic in the satellite system comprising:
-
providing a multiple user multiple simultaneous access (MUMSA) upstream channel communicatively coupling a plurality of subscriber terminals to a hub through a satellite; estimating channel load of multiple users having simultaneous access to the MUMSA upstream channel; calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using said estimate of channel load; selecting a current congestion threshold value and transmitting the current congestion threshold value on a downstream channel to the plurality of subscriber terminals; at each of the plurality of subscriber terminals, comparing the congestion threshold value with a random number to obtain a transmission value determinative at least in part of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by the subscriber terminal; and regulating the transmission of packets in the MUMSA upstream channel according at least in part to the transmission value so that a transmitted load from all of the plurality of terminals has a rate of packet transmission that is less than the congestion threshold value times an offered load to the subscriber terminal, so that the upstream channel bears a more evenly distributed load. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. An apparatus for managing data traffic in a two-way satellite communication system comprising:
-
means associated with a plurality of subscriber terminals for providing a multiple user multiple simultaneous access (MUMSA) upstream channel communicatively coupling the plurality of subscriber terminals to a hub through a satellite; means for estimating channel load of multiple users having simultaneous access to the MUMSA upstream channel; means for calculating on an ongoing basis a congestion threshold value using said estimate of channel load; means for selecting a current congestion threshold value and transmitting the current congestion threshold value on a downstream channel to the plurality of subscriber terminals; means at each of the plurality of subscriber terminals for comparing the congestion threshold value with a random number to obtain a transmission value determinative at least in part of whether a packet is eligible to be transmitted by the subscriber terminal; and means at each of the plurality of subscriber terminals for regulating the transmission of packets in the MUMSA upstream channel according at least in part to the transmission value so that a transmitted load from all of the plurality of terminals has a rate of packet transmission that is less than the congestion threshold value times an offered load to the subscriber terminal, so that the upstream channel bears a more evenly distributed load.
-
Specification