Arrangement for regulating traffic in a high speed data network

In a data network comprising one or more intermediate nodes, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal connected to a transmitting ingress facility of said network to a receiving terminal connected to a receiving egress facility of said network, comprising the steps of:

• determining, in said ingress facility, whether an amount of bandwidth required for the transmission of the data from the transmitting terminal to the receiving terminal is available at the transmitting terminal ingress facility to said network;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth to the transmitting terminal;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, transmitting a request message, to allocate said amount of bandwidth, from said ingress to said egress facility;
• responsive to said request message, determining, in said egress facility, whether said amount of bandwidth is available at the receiving terminal egress facility from said network;
• and
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the egress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth in said egress facility to the receiving terminal;
• if said amount of bandwidth is not available at the ingress facility, or is not available at the egress facility, recording a request for the amount of bandwidth at an ingress controller for the transmitting terminal;
• if said allocating steps have been executed successfully, transmitting data at the packet switching bandwidth allocated in said allocating steps from said ingress facility over ones of said intermediate nodes to said egress facility without checking for available packet bandwidth in intermediate nodes prior to commencement of said transmitting.

In a data network, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal connected to a transmitting ingress facility of said network to a receiving terminal connected to a receiving egress facility of said network, comprising the steps of:

• determining, in said ingress facility, whether an amount of bandwidth required for the transmission of the data from the transmitting terminal to the receiving terminal is available at the transmitting terminal ingress facility to said network;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth to the transmitting terminal;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, transmitting a request message, to allocate said amount of bandwidth, from said ingress to said egress facility;
• responsive to said request message, determining, in said egress facility, whether said amount of bandwidth is available at the receiving terminal egress facility from said network;
• and
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the egress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth in said egress facility to the receiving terminal;
• if said amount of bandwidth is not available at the ingress facility, or is not available at the egress facility, recording a request for the amount of bandwidth at an ingress controller for the transmitting terminal;
• recording, in said ingress controller, data defining the destination, the amount of bandwidth, and data identifying a time of the request.

In a data network, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal connected to a transmitting ingress facility of said network to a receiving terminal connected to a receiving egress facility of said network, comprising the steps of:

• determining, in said ingress facility, whether an amount of bandwidth required for the transmission of the data from the transmitting terminal to the receiving terminal is available at the transmitting terminal ingress facility to said network;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth to the transmitting terminal;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, transmitting a request message, to allocate said amount of bandwidth, from said ingress to said egress facility;
• responsive to said request message, determining, in said egress facility, whether said amount of bandwidth is available at the receiving terminal egress facility from said network;
• and
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the egress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth in said egress facility to the receiving terminal;
• wherein the step of determining whether said amount of bandwidth is available at the egress comprises:
• sending a request message from an ingress controller for said transmitting terminal to an egress controller for said receiving terminal;
• responsive to receipt of the request message, checking for available receive bandwidth at the egress facility;
• and
• sending a message from the egress controller to the ingress controller reporting on the result of the checking step;
• wherein the checking step further comprises:
• if all of said amount of bandwidth is not available at the egress facility, but at least a predetermined fraction of said amount of bandwidth is available at the egress facility, allocate the at least a predetermined fraction;
• and
• the sending step comprises:
• sending a response message to the ingress controller reporting how much bandwidth was allocated.

In a data network, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal connected to a transmitting ingress facility of said network to a receiving terminal connected to a receiving egress facility of said network, comprising the steps of:

• determining, in said ingress facility, whether an amount of bandwidth required for the transmission of the data from the transmitting terminal to the receiving terminal is available at the transmitting terminal ingress facility to said network;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth to the transmitting terminal;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the ingress facility, transmitting a request message, to allocate said amount of bandwidth, from said ingress to said egress facility;
• responsive to said request message, determining, in said egress facility, whether said amount of bandwidth is available at the receiving terminal egress facility from said network;
• and
• if said amount of bandwidth is available at the egress facility, allocating said amount of bandwidth in said egress facility to the receiving terminal;
• if said amount of bandwidth is not available at the ingress facility, or is not available at the egress facility, recording a request for the amount of bandwidth at an ingress controller for the transmitting terminal;
• recording, in said ingress controller, data defining the destination, the amount of bandwidth, and data identifying a time of the request;
• wherein the step of allocating bandwidth at an ingress controller for said transmitting terminal comprises:
• periodically sorting by age, requests for which transmit bandwidth has not been allocated;
• and
• attempting to allocate bandwidth for oldest requests first.

A terminal adapter, for connection to a data network comprising one or more intermediate nodes, comprising:

• a terminal interface for communicating between the adapter and a plurality of terminals;
• a network interface for communicating between the adapter and a data network;
• storage means for storing data messages receivable via the terminal interface from the terminals for transmission via the network interface over the network;
• storage means for data messages receivable via the network interface from the network for transmission via the terminal interface to the terminals;
• and
• processor means operative under the control of a program for controlling the following operations:
• determining whether an amount of bandwidth for transmitting a data message from a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal via the terminal adapter is recorded as available;
• if said amount of bandwidth is available, allocating said amount of bandwidth to the transmitting terminal;
• sending a message via the network interface over the network to a destination terminal adapter connected to a destination terminal of the message requesting allocation of said amount of bandwidth;
• and
• responsive to receipt of a message from the destination terminal adapter confirming allocation of the amount of bandwidth for the reception of the data message, sending the data message from the storage means for messages receivable from the terminals via the network interface to the network over ones of said intermediate nodes selected by said network without checking for available packet bandwidth in intermediate nodes prior to commencement of said sending.

A method of allocating resources in a broadband ISDN network for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal connected to a transmitting ingress facility of said network to a receiving terminal connected to a receiving egress facility of said network, comprising the steps of:

• determining an amount of bandwidth required for the transmitting terminal;
• determining, in said ingress facility, whether the amount of bandwidth is available at a source terminal adapter, the source adapter connected to the network and the transmitting terminal;
• if the amount of bandwidth is available at the source adapter, allocating the amount of bandwidth to the transmitting terminal;
• if the amount of bandwidth is available at the source adapter, transmitting a request message, to allocate said amount of bandwidth, from said ingress to said egress facility;
• responsive to said request message, determining, in said egress facility, whether the amount of bandwidth is available at a destination terminal adapter, the destination adapter connected to the network and the receiving terminal;
• if the amount of bandwidth is available at the destination adapter, allocating the amount of bandwidth in said egress facility to the receiving terminal;
• if the amount of bandwidth is not available at the source adapter, or is not available at the destination adapter, recording in the source adapter, data defining the destination, the amount of bandwidth, and data identifying a time of a request for the amount of bandwidth;
• periodically checking for requests for bandwidth in the recorded data and repeating attempts to allocate said requested bandwidth in the source adapter and the destination adapter;
• separately recording all requests whose age exceeds a predetermined threshold;
• and
• attempting to allocate bandwidth to the separately recorded requests on a priority basis by transmitting repeated request messages to allocate bandwidth at the destination adapter;
• wherein the step of determining whether bandwidth is available at the destination adapter comprises:
• sending a request message from the source adapter to the destination adapter;
• responsive to receipt of the request message, checking for available receive bandwidth at the destination adapter;
• and
• sending a message from the destination adapter to the source adapter reporting on the result of the checking step;
• wherein the checking step comprises:
• if the amount of bandwidth is not available at the destination adapter, but at least a predetermined fraction of the amount of bandwidth is available at the destination adapter, allocate the at least a predetermined fraction;
• and
• the sending step comprises:
• sending a response message to the source adapter reporting how much bandwidth was allocated;
• wherein the step of allocating at the source adapter comprises:
• periodically sorting by age, requests for which transmit bandwidth has not been allocated;
• and
• attempting to allocate bandwidth for oldest requests first.

A terminal adapter, for connection to a data network comprising one or more intermediate nodes, comprising:

• means, responsive to a request to transmit a data message, for allocating transmit bandwidth;
• means responsive to said request for transmitting a signaling message requesting allocation of receive packet switching bandwidth in another terminal adapter;
• and
• means responsive to receipt of a signaling message from said another terminal adapter confirming allocation of receive packet switching bandwidth for initiating transmission of said data message over ones of said intermediate nodes selected by said network without checking for available packet bandwidth in intermediate nodes prior to said initiating transmission.