Network performance assessment apparatus, systems, and methods
AssigneeEchoStar Technologies L.L.C.
InventorGary R. Langille
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various embodiments of network performance assessment apparatus, systems and processes collect performance information pertaining to a current capacity utilization of a network, identify an occurrence of a capacity constraint on a portion of the network that is communicating the program to at least one presentation device, and modify at least one characteristic of the program and/or the communication thereof over the network so that a total capacity utilization of the network is less than a peak capacity of the network.
Claims38
An apparatus operable to communicate programs over networks, comprising:
- a receiver operable to receive a user selection of the program;
- a network formatter operable to format the selected program into information compatible with a communication format used by a network, and operable to transmit the formatted program onto the network;
- and
- a network performance assessor operable to assess performance of the network, operable to determine an occurrence of a capacity constraint on the network, and operable to cause the network formatter to modify the program communicated over the network to reduce capacity utilization on the network.
A method for communication of at least one program over a network, comprising:
- collecting performance information pertaining to a current capacity utilization of the network;
- identifying an occurrence of a capacity constraint on a portion of the network that is communicating a program to a presentation device;
- and
- modifying the program so that a total capacity utilization of the network is less than a peak capacity of the network.
A system operable to communicate at least one program over networked systems, comprising:
- a network performance assessor operable to collect performance information pertaining to a current capacity utilization of a network;
- a processor unit operable to execute logic to identify occurrence of a capacity constraint on a portion of the network that is communicating the program to a presentation device, the capacity constraint corresponding to the network operating at a total capacity utilization that is equal to a peak capacity of the network;
- and
- program formatter operable to modify a characteristic of the program communicated over the network so that the total capacity utilization over the network is less than a peak capacity of the network.
A method for communication of at least one program over a network, comprising:
- collecting performance information pertaining to a current capacity utilization of the network;
- identifying an occurrence of a capacity constraint on a portion of the network that is communicating the program to a presentation device;
- and
- communicating the occurrence of the capacity constraint to a receiving device that is operable to modify the program so that a total capacity utilization of the network is less than a peak capacity of the network.
A method of configuring networks, comprising:
- communicatively coupling a receiving device to a network, the receiving device operable to communicate a program to a presentation device;
- and
- communicatively coupling a network performance assessor to the network, the network performance assessor operable to assess performance of the network, operable to determine an occurrence of a capacity constraint on the network, and operable to cause the receiving device to modify the program communicated over the network to reduce capacity utilization on the network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.