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US 6,947,379 B1Granted
Packet routing to reduce susceptibility to disturbances
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsRobert E. Gleichauf, Shmuel Shaffer, Robert T. Bell, Joseph F. Khouri
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a communications system, a network provides multiple physical paths for communicating packets between participants of communication sessions. During a communication session, elements of the network route packets such that the packets are separated for communication to a destination using multiple physical paths.
Claims20
A method for communicating packets to a remote device comprising:
- receiving packets having encoded streaming data for delivery to a remote device, wherein each of the packets comprises a sequence number;
- separating the packets into a plurality of streams corresponding to a plurality of paths to the remote device, wherein each of the streams comprises a subset of the packets having no more than a predetermined number of consecutive sequence numbers:
- communicating the streams using the corresponding paths to reduce susceptibility to a disturbance on one of the paths;
- monitoring packet loss for each of the paths;
- determining that the packet loss for a selected one of the paths exceeds a threshold;
- and
- reducing a frequency of packets separated into the stream corresponding to the selected one of the paths to reduce bandwidth used on the selected one of the paths.
4 more elements
A method for communicating packets to a remote device comprising:
- receiving packets having encoded streaming data for delivery to a remote device, wherein each of the packets comprises a sequence number;
- separating the packets into a plurality of streams corresponding to a plurality of paths to the remote device, wherein each of the streams comprises a subset of the packets having no more than a predetermined number of consecutive sequence numbers;
- communicating the streams using the corresponding paths to reduce susceptibility to a disturbance on one of the paths;
- storing historical data indicating performance characteristics for each of the paths over a period of time;
- and
- separating the packets into the streams based on the historical data.
3 more elements
A network node comprising:
- a network interface coupled to a plurality of paths to a remote device, the network interface operable to receive packets having encoded streaming data for delivery to the remote device, with each of the packets comprising a sequence number;
- a processor operable to separate the packets into a plurality of streams corresponding to the paths, with each of the streams comprising a subset of the packets having no more than a predetermined number of consecutive sequence numbers;
- the network interface further operable to communicate the streams on the corresponding paths to reduce susceptibility to a disturbance on one of the paths;
- the processor further operable to:
- monitor packet loss for each of the paths;
- determine that the packet loss for a selected one of the paths exceeds a threshold;
- and
- reduce a frequency of packets separated into the stream corresponding to the selected one of the paths to reduce bandwidth used on the selected one of the paths.
5 more elements
A network node comprising:
- a network interface coupled to a plurality of paths to a remote device, the network interface operable to receive packets having encoded streaming data for delivery to the remote device, with each of the packets comprising a sequence number;
- a processor operable to separate the packets into a plurality of streams corresponding to the paths, with each of the streams comprising a subset of the packets having no more than a predetermined number of consecutive sequence numbers;
- the network interface further operable to communicate the streams on the corresponding paths to reduce susceptibility to a disturbance on one of the paths;
- a memory storing historical data indicating performance characteristics for each of the paths over a period of time;
- and wherein:
- the processor is further operable to access the memory to determine the historical data and to separate the packets into the streams based on the historical data.
3 more elements
Logic for communicating packets to a remote device, the logic encoded in a medium and operable when executed to:
- receive packets having encoded streaming data for delivery to a remote device, wherein each of the packets comprises a sequence number;
- separate the packets into a plurality of streams corresponding to a plurality of paths to the remote device, wherein each of the streams comprises a subset of the packets having no more than a predetermined number of consecutive sequence numbers;
- communicate the streams using the corresponding paths to reduce susceptibility to a disturbance on one of the paths;
- store historical data indicating performance characteristics for each of the paths over a period of time;
- and
- separate the packets into the streams based on the historical data.
3 more elements
A network node comprising:
- means for receiving packets having encoded streaming data for delivery to a remote device, wherein each of the packets comprises a sequence number;
- means for separating the packets into a plurality of streams corresponding to a plurality of paths to the remote device, wherein each of the streams comprises a subset of the packets having no more than a predetermined number of consecutive sequence numbers;
- means for communicating the streams using the corresponding paths to reduce susceptibility to a disturbance on one of the paths;
- means for storing historical data indicating performance characteristics for each of the paths over a period of time;
- and
- means for separating the packets into the streams based on the historical data.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.