Upstream data rate estimation
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsJay Price, Allen Huotari, Manrique Brenes, Matthew McRae
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, a VoIP-integrated router operable to interface with analog telephones and digital devices is provided. The VoIP-integrated router is configured to perform a method of estimating the upstream data rate of a modem, comprising transmitting packets at a known rate from the VoIP-integrated router through an upstream path for the modem to a node; during the transmission of the packets, transmitting Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) PING messages to the node; and based upon an examination of the PING messages and the known rate, estimating the upstream data rate of the modem.
Claims24
A device configured to estimate the upstream data rate of a network device, comprising:
- a transceiver operable to transmit packets to and receive packets from the network device;
- and
- a logic engine configured to transmit first packets at a known data rate through an upstream path for the network device to an Internet node, the logic engine being further configured to, during the transmission of the first packets, transmit second packets to the node, wherein each of the second packets is configured such that the node returns a reply packet through a downstream path for the network device in response to the receipt of the second packet, the logic engine being further configured to estimate the upstream data rate for the network device based upon an examination of the reply packets and the known data rate.
The device of claim 3, wherein the logic engine is further configured to limit non-VoIP data traffic based upon a desired quality of service for VoIP telephone calls.
A VoIP-integrated router operable to interface with analog telephones and digital devices, comprising:
- a transceiver operable to transmit packets to and receive packets from a network device;
- and
- a logic engine configured to estimate an upstream data rate for the network device by performing the acts of:
- transmitting first packets at a known data rate through an upstream path for the network device to a node;
- during the transmission of the first packets, transmitting second packets to the node, wherein each of the second packets is configured such that the node returns a reply packet through a downstream path for the network device to the VoIP-integrated router in response to the receipt of the second packet;
- and
- based upon an examination of the reply packets and the known data rate, estimating the upstream data rate of the network device.
A router operable to examine the priority of data packets before routing the data packets, wherein a first class of data packets being routed are assigned a priority that is greater than a maximum priority given to a second class of data packets being routed, and wherein the router is configured to estimate the upstream data rate of a modem by performing the acts of:
- transmitting first packets at a known data rate through an upstream path for the modem to a node;
- during the transmission of the first packets, transmitting second packets to the node, wherein each of the second packets is configured such that the node returns a reply packet through a downstream path for the modem to the VoIP-integrated router in response to the receipt of the second packet;
- based upon an examination of the reply packets and the known data rate, estimating the upstream data rate of the modem;
- and
- limiting transmission of the second class of data packets through the upstream path for the modem based upon the upstream data rate estimation.
A VoIP telephone, wherein the VoIP telephone is configured to estimate the upstream data rate of a network device by performing the acts of:
- transmitting first packets at a known data rate through an upstream path for the network device to a node;
- during the transmission of the first packets, transmitting second packets to the node, wherein each of the second packets is configured such that the node returns a reply packet through a downstream path for the network device to the VoIP-integrated router in response to the receipt of the second packet;
- and
- based upon an examination of the reply packets and the known data rate, estimating the upstream data rate of the network device.
A method of estimating the upstream data rate of a network device, comprising:
- transmitting first packets at a known data rate through an upstream path for the network device to a node;
- during the transmission of the first packets, transmitting second packets to the node, wherein each of the second packets is configured such that the node returns a reply packet through a downstream path in response to the receipt of the second packet;
- and
- based upon an examination of the reply packets and the known data rate, estimating the upstream data rate of the network device.
A device configured to determine the upstream data rate of a network device, comprising:
- means for determining a nearest host on a node on the Internet;
- means for transmitting first packets at a known rate through an upstream path for the network device to the node;
- means for transmitting second packets through the upstream path to the node, each of the second packets being configured such that the node returns a reply packet in response to receipt of the second packet;
- and
- means for processing roundtrip times for the reply packets and the known rate to determine the upstream data rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.