System and method for tracking application resource usage

• US 8,743,703 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Heinz, John M., McNaughton, James L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mered, Habte
• Assistant Examiner(s): MENSAH, PRINCE AKWASI
• Application Number:
  US11/809,888
• Publication Number:
  US 20080052387A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,560 Days
• Field of Search: 370/224, 370/229, 370/235, 370/242, 370/243, 370/248, 370/252, 370/255, 370/355, 370/349, 370/390, 370/392, 370/395.2, 370/395.21, 370/395.43, 370/400, 370/401, 370/471, 709/224, 709/223, 709/225, 455/423, 455/67.11, 455/115.1
• US Class Current: 370/242
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5025 by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0852 Delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A system and method for tracking application resource usage. Network performance information of a communications network is gathered using performance information packet data packets. The network performance information is communicated to an application. Instructions in the application are executed in response to receiving the network performance information.

Claims

1. A method for tracking application resource usage, comprising:

gathering network performance information of a communications network using performance information packet (PIP) data packets;

communicating the PIP data packets to an application;

extracting the network performance information from the PIP data packets in response to receiving the PIP data packets at the application;

identifying, by the application, network performance issues based on the network performance information from the PIP data packets;

executing instructions in the application in response to extracting the network performance information from the PIP data packets, wherein executing the instructions includes determining whether the application is a cause of the network performance issues and executing an instruction to terminate and restart the application in response to determining that the application is the cause of the network performance issues; and

throttling data streams to a plurality of applications through access nodes of a communications system based on the usage of real-time and non real-time data of the plurality of applications.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gathering is performed from a table of the network performance information.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the executing further comprises:

determining a communications path offering a best quality of service to the application, the application being an end-user application; and

changing a network connection of the application to the communications path offering the best quality of service provided to the application.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining comprises:

querying a central resource of the communications network to find the communications path offering the best quality of service provided to the application.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the network performance information to a client using the application.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

reconfiguring a communications path to the application based on user input to improve a quality of service.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

inserting an instruction into one or more of the PIP data packets to obtain specific network performance information from a remote communications network.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the instruction configures a portion of the remote communications network to enhance communication with the application.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the executing is performed based on permissions.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the executing is performed to guarantee the application a specified quality of service.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

specifying a priority level for each of the plurality of applications wherein bandwidth is allocated based on the priority level.

12. The method according to claim 3, wherein the changing comprises:

rerouting the communications path through one or more different access nodes to form the communications path offering the best quality of service provided to the application.

13. A communication system for managing applications comprising:

a processing system configured to;

gather network performance information of a communications network using performance information packet (PIP) data packets;

communicate the PIP data packets to an application;

extract the network performance information from the PIP data packets in response to receiving the PIP data packets at the application;

identify, by the application, network performance issues based on the network performance information from the PIP data packets;

execute instructions in the application in response to receiving the network performance information, wherein executing instructions includes determining whether the application is a cause of the network performance issues and executing an instruction to terminate and restart the application in response to a determination that the application is a cause of the network performance issues; and

throttle data streams to a plurality of applications through access nodes of a communications system based on the usage of real-time and non real-time data of the plurality of applications.

14. The communication system of claim 13, further comprising:

one or more secondary networks interconnected with the communications network wherein a communications path connects the application through a remote server through the one or more secondary networks, wherein the instructions are executed to configure the communications path.

15. The communication system of claim 13, further comprising:

a central network server configured to store historical network performance information in order to configure a communications path to meet a specified quality of service for the application.

16. A network manager comprising:

a processor configured to execute a set of instructions;

a memory configured to store the set of instructions for executing an application, wherein the set of instructions;

gather network performance information of a communications network using performance information packet (PIP) data packets;

communicate the PIP data packets to the application;

extract the network performance information from the PIP data packets in response to receiving the PIP data packets at the application;

identify, by the application, network performance issues based on the network performance information from the PIP data packets;

determine whether the application is a cause of the network performance issues and executing an instruction to reduce an amount of bandwidth utilized by the application in response to a determination that the application is a cause of the network performance issues; and

throttle data streams to a plurality of applications through access nodes of a communications system based on the usage of real-time and non real-time data of the plurality of applications.

17. The network manager of claim 16, wherein the set of instructions further:

determine a communications path offering a best quality of service to the application, the application being an end-user application, and change the communications path of the application to a secondary communications path based on quality of service provided by the secondary communications path.

18. The network manager of claim 16, wherein the set of instructions further:

insert a command into one or more of the PIP data packets to obtain specific network performance information from the communications network and reconfigure an access node.