Reducing communication delay of video data

• US 8,634,300 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2009
• Issued: 01/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Tan, Wai-Tian, Patti, Andrew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rinehart, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kirillova, Ellen A
• Application Number:
  US13/386,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20120120254A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,604 Days
• Field of Search: 370/235, 370/412, 370/429
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• 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 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23805 Controlling the feeding rate to the network, e.g. by controlling the video pump
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6437 Real-time Transport Protocol [RTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64723 Monitoring of network processes or resources, e.g. monitoring of network load traffic related reporting in data switching networks H04L43/062
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64761 directed to the server

Abstract

According to one embodiment, video data from a video transmitter (110) is received (420) at a network buffer (130). Information that pertains to a network buffer drain rate (14) of the network buffer (1q3) is monitored (430). The network buffer drain rate (140) is a rate that the video data is removed from the network buffer (130). The network buffer drain rate (140) is estimated (440) based on the monitored information. A transmission rate (120) that the video transmitter (110) transmits future video data is adjusted (450) to not exceed an allowed transmission rate (ATR) that is calculated based on the estimation of the network buffer drain rate (140).

Claims

1. A method of reducing communication delay of video data from a video transmitter to a video receiver, the method comprising:

receiving at a network buffer video data from the video transmitter;

monitoring information that pertains to a network buffer drain rate of the network buffer, wherein the network buffer drain rate is a rate that the video data is removed from the network buffer;

estimating the network buffer drain rate based on the monitored information; and

adjusting that the video transmitter transmits future video data to not exceed an allowed transmission rate (ATR) that is calculated based on the estimation of the network buffer drain rate,

wherein the monitoring of the information further comprises directly monitoring an amount of time it takes for a packet of the video data to be communicated through the network buffer, the network buffer located external to and between the video transmitter and the video receiver,

and wherein the estimating of the network buffer drain rate further comprises estimating the network buffer drain rate based at least on estimating a variation in the amount of time it takes for the packet of the video data to be communicated through the network buffer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the monitoring of the information further comprises monitoring the amount of video data received from the network buffer and the amount of time between packets associated with the video data; and

the estimating of the network buffer drain rate further comprises estimating the network buffer drain rate based, at least in part, on the amount of video data and the amount of time between the packets.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the monitoring of the information further comprises monitoring a round trip time associated with a received packet of the video data; and

the estimating of the modem data rate further comprises estimating the network buffer drain rate based, at least in part, on estimating variation on the round trip time.

4. An apparatus for reducing communication delay of video data between a video transmitter and a video receiver, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

monitored information receiver configured for receiving monitored information that pertains to a network buffer drain rate of a network buffer, wherein the network buffer drain rate is a rate that video data is removed from the network buffer;

network buffer drain rate estimator configured for estimating the network buffer drain rate based on the monitored information;

allowed transmission rate calculator configured for calculating an allowed transmission rate (ATR) based on the estimation of the network buffer drain rate; and

allowed transmission rate provider configured for providing the allowed transmission rate to the video transmitter to adjust a transmission rate of future video data to not exceed the allowed transmission rate (ATR),

wherein the monitored information comprises a directly monitored amount of time it takes for a packet of the video data to be communicated through the network buffer, the network buffer located external to and between the video transmitter and the video receiver,

and wherein the network buffer drain rate estimator is to estimate the network buffer drain rate based at least on estimating a variation in the amount of time it takes for the packet of the video data to be communicated through the network buffer.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus is located at an electronic device selected from a group consisting of the video transmitter, the video receiver, and a router.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus is located at a router that is a Quality of Service router.

7. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the calculated allowed transmission rate (ATR) is a total allowed transmission rate (ATR) and wherein the allowed transmission rate provider is further configured for providing a plurality of new allowed transmission rates for a plurality of data sources where a total of the plurality of the new allowed transmission rates does not exceed the total allowed transmission rate (ATR).

8. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus further comprises a network buffer occupancy estimator that is configured for estimating a network buffer occupancy, which is an amount of data that resides in the network buffer and wherein the allowed transmission rate provider is further configured for causing a reduction in a probability of network buffer occupancy build up by providing the allowed transmission rate, that is based on the estimated network buffer occupancy and the estimation of the network buffer drain rate, to the video transmitter.

9. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:

the monitored information receiver is further configured for monitoring the amount of video data received from the network buffer and the amount of time between packets associated with the video data; and

the network buffer drain rate estimator is further configured for estimating the network buffer drain rate based, at least in part, on the amount of video data and the amount of time between the packets.

10. A computer readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions stored thereon for causing a computer system to perform a method of reducing communication delay of video data, the method comprising:

receiving, from a first transmitter, the video data at a network buffer;

monitoring information that pertains to network buffer drain rate and pertains to network buffer occupancy, wherein the network buffer drain rate is a rate that the video data is removed from the network buffer and wherein the network buffer occupancy is an amount of data that resides in the network buffer; and

reducing a probability of network buffer build up in the network buffer by providing the monitored information to an apparatus that calculates an allowed transmission rate for the first transmitter based on the monitored information,

wherein the monitoring of the information further comprises directly monitoring an amount of time it takes for a packet of the video data to be communicated through the network buffer, the network buffer located external to and between the first transmitter and a video receiver,

and wherein reducing the probability of network buffer build up comprises estimating the network buffer drain rate based at least on estimating a variation in the amount of time it takes for the packet of the video data to be communicated through the network buffer.

11. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the receiving of the video data further comprises:

receiving the video data from a Quality of Service (QOS) router.

12. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 10:

wherein the method further comprises receiving, at the network buffer, second data from a second transmitter; and

wherein an apparatus, which resides at a router, provides a second transmission rate, which is a small delta of the allowed transmission rate (ATR), to the second transmitter and provides a first transmission rate, which is adjusted to a difference between the allowed transmission rate (ATR) and the small delta, to the first transmitter.

13. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the receiving of the video data further comprises:

receiving the video data in real time.

14. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein:

the monitoring of the information further comprises monitoring an amount of the video data received from the network buffer and an amount of time between packets associated with the video data; and

the estimating of the network buffer occupancy further comprises determining packet dispersion by estimating the network buffer occupancy based, at least in part, on the amount of the video data and the amount of time between the packets.