System and method for recovery of packets in overlay networks

A method for transmitting packets between an IP node of an IP network and an overlay node of an overlay network that runs over the IP network, wherein one of the IP node and overlay node comprises a receiver node and the other comprises a sender node, comprising:

• a) executing a packet recovery process at the receiver node upon satisfaction of a packet recovery condition that is associated with meeting a deadline driven criteria for a transmitted packet from the sender node to the receiver node, said packet recovery process comprising:
• a1) associating N number of scheduled times with N requests for retransmission of the transmitted packet to the sender node, said N scheduled times being relative to the satisfaction of the packet recovery condition, wherein at least one of the N scheduled times includes a receiver waiting time;
• and
• a2) at each scheduled time, transmitting a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• and
• b) executing a packet retransmission process at the sender node upon the first receipt of a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• said packet retransmission process comprising:
• b1) associating M number of scheduled times with M retransmissions of the transmitted packet to the receiver node, said M scheduled times being relative to the receipt of the request for retransmission of the transmitted packet, wherein at least one of the M scheduled times includes a sender waiting time;
• and
• b2) at each scheduled time, retransmitting the transmitted packet;
• wherein the N and M are non-zero positive integers and wherein at least one of N number of scheduled times or M number of scheduled times is greater than one.

A method for transmitting packets over a last mile transmission medium of an IP access network between a node and an Access Overlay Router that communicates over both the last mile network and a second IP network, at least one of the IP node and the Access Overlay Router being a receiver node and the other being a sender node that is coupled to the receiver node, comprising:

• a) executing a packet recovery process at the receiver node upon satisfaction of a packet recovery condition that is associated with meeting a deadline driven criteria for a transmitted packet from the sender node to the receiver node, said packet recovery process comprising:
• a1) associating N number of scheduled times with N requests for retransmission of the transmitted packet to the sender node, said N scheduled times being relative to the satisfaction of the packet recovery condition, wherein at least one of the N scheduled times includes a receiver waiting time;
• and
• a2) at each scheduled time, transmitting a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• and
• b) executing a packet retransmission process at the sender node upon the first receipt of a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• said packet retransmission process comprising:
• b1) associating M number of scheduled times with M retransmissions of the transmitted packet to the receiver node, said M scheduled times being relative to the receipt of the request for retransmission of the transmitted packet,
• wherein at least one of the M scheduled times includes a sender waiting time;
• and
• b2) at each scheduled time, retransmitting the transmitted packet;
• wherein the N and M are non-zero positive integers and wherein at least one of N number of scheduled times or M number of scheduled times is greater than one.

A method for transmitting packets between sender and receiver overlay nodes of an overlay network that runs over an underlying IP network, comprising:

• a) executing a packet recovery process at a receiver overlay node upon satisfaction of a packet recovery condition that is associated with meeting a deadline driven criteria for a transmitted packet from an adjacent sender overlay node to the receiver overlay node, said packet recovery process comprising:
• a1) associating N number of scheduled times with N requests for retransmission of the transmitted packet to the adjacent sender overlay node, said N scheduled times being relative to the satisfaction of the packet recovery condition, wherein at least one of the N scheduled times includes a receiver waiting time;
• and
• a2) at each scheduled time, transmitting a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• and
• b) executing a packet retransmission process at the adjacent sender overlay node upon the first receipt of a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• said packet retransmission process comprising:
• b1) using an erasure coding function, with integer parameter k greater than 1 and less than M, to generate M encoded blocks such that any k out of M encoded blocks are sufficient to recreate the transmitted packet at the receiver node;
• b2) associating M number of scheduled times with each one of the M encoded blocks to the receiver overlay node once, wherein at least one of the M scheduled times includes a sender waiting time;
• and
• b3) at each scheduled time, transmitting a corresponding one of the M encoded blocks to the receiver node;
• wherein the N and M are non-zero positive integers and M is greater than two.

A method for transmitting packets between an IP node of an IP network and an overlay node of an overlay network that runs over the IP network, wherein one of the IP node and overlay node comprises a receiver node and the other comprises a sender node, comprising:

• a) executing a packet recovery process at the receiver node upon satisfaction of a packet recovery condition that is associated with meeting a deadline driven criteria for a transmitted packet from the sender node to the receiver node, said packet recovery process comprising:
• a1) associating N number of scheduled times with N requests for retransmission of the transmitted packet to the sender node, said N scheduled times being relative to the satisfaction of the packet recovery condition, wherein at least one of the N scheduled times includes a receiver waiting time;
• and
• a2) at each scheduled time, transmitting a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• and
• b) executing a packet retransmission process at the sender node upon the first receipt of a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• said packet retransmission process comprising:
• b1) using an erasure coding function, with integer parameter k greater than 1 and less than M, to generate M encoded blocks such that any k out of M encoded blocks are sufficient to recreate the transmitted packet at the receiver node;
• b2) associating M number of scheduled times with each one of the M encoded blocks to the receiver overlay node once, wherein at least one of the M scheduled times includes a sender waiting time;
• and
• b3) at each scheduled time, transmitting a corresponding one of the M encoded blocks to the receiver node;
• wherein the N and M are non-zero positive integers and M is greater than two.

A method for transmitting packets over a last mile transmission medium of an IP access network between a node and an Access Overlay Router that communicates over both the last mile network and a second IP network, at least one of the IP node and the Access Overlay Router being a receiver node and the other being a sender node that is coupled to the receiver node, comprising:

• a) executing a packet recovery process at the receiver node upon satisfaction of a packet recovery condition that is associated with meeting a deadline driven criteria for a transmitted packet from the sender node to the receiver node, said packet recovery process comprising:
• a1) associating N number of scheduled times with N requests for retransmission of the transmitted packet to the sender node, said N scheduled times being relative to the satisfaction of the packet recovery condition, wherein at least one of the N scheduled times includes a receiver waiting time;
• and
• a2) at each scheduled time, transmitting a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• and
• b) executing a packet retransmission process at the sender node upon the first receipt of a request for retransmission of the transmitted packet;
• said packet retransmission process comprising:
• b1) using an erasure coding function, with integer parameter k greater than 1 and less than M, to generate M encoded blocks such that any k out of M encoded blocks are sufficient to recreate the transmitted packet at the receiver node;
• b2) associating M number of scheduled times with each one of the M encoded blocks to the receiver overlay node once, wherein at least one of the M scheduled times includes a sender waiting time;
• and
• b3) at each scheduled time, transmitting a corresponding one of the M encoded blocks to the receiver node;
• wherein the N and M are non-zero positive integers and M is greater than two.