US 7,689,686 B2 · Active probing for sustainable capacity estimation of networked dataflows

Abstract

Various actively probing techniques on a network allow an estimation of the sustainable capacity available in the network. One implementation probes the network using two probe sequences having different loads. Probe estimates associated with each sequence are used to estimate the sustainable capacity in the network. Another implementation probes the network using two probe sequences, in which either the probe packet size or the inter-probe gap are different between the sequences. Calculation of a delay trend for each sequence leads to estimate of the maximum network capacity and the background load on the network. Yet another implementation uses a windowing technique to probe the sustainable capacity in the network. The window size is increased until the network is saturated. The number of bytes transferred within the window during a given time period is an estimate of the sustainable capacity of the network.

Claims58

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

computing a first probe estimate from a first probe sequence transmitted over a network from a first device to a second device;
computing a second probe estimate from a second probe sequence transmitted over the network from the first device to the second device, the first probe sequence providing a different load to the network than the second probe sequence;
estimating a sustainable capacity of the network based on the first probe estimate and the second probe estimate;
and
wherein the estimating operation comprises computing an algorithm substantially of the form:
SusCap
est
=
δ
⁢
⁢
m
⁢
D
^
2
-
D
min
D
^
2
-
D
^
1
wherein SusCapest represents the sustainable capacity value, δm represents a load difference between the second probe sequence and the first probe sequence {circumflex over (D)}2 represents the second robe estimate, {circumflex over (D)}1 represents the first probe estimate, and Dmin represents a minimum delay time of individual round-trip delay times associated with the first load probe and the second load probe sequence.

24 more elements

A computer program product disposed on a computer readable storage media encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

computing a first probe estimate from a first probe sequence transmitted over a network from a first device to a second device;
computing a second probe estimate from a second probe sequence transmitted over the network from the first device to the second device, the first probe sequence providing a different load to the network than the second probe sequence;
estimating a sustainable capacity of the network based on the first probe estimate and the second probe estimate;
and
wherein the estimating operation comprises computing an algorithm substantially of the form:
SusCap
est
=
δ
⁢
⁢
m
⁢
D
^
2
-
D
min
D
^
2
-
D
^
1
wherein SusCapest represents the sustainable capacity value, δm represents a load difference between the second probe sequence and the first probe sequence, {circumflex over (D)}2 represents the second probe estimate, {circumflex over (D)}1 represents the first probe estimate, and Dmin represents a minimum delay time of individual round-trip delay times associated with the first load probe sequence and the second load probe sequence.

24 more elements

A computer program product disposed on a computer readable storage media encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

computing a first probe estimate from a first probe sequence transmitted over a network from a first device to a second device;
computing a second probe estimate from a second probe sequence transmitted over the network from the first device to the second device, the first probe sequence providing a different load to the network than the second probe sequence;
estimating a sustainable capacity of the network based on the first probe estimate and the second probe estimate;
and
wherein the estimating operation comprises computing an algorithm substantially of the form:
SusCap
est
=
δ
⁢
⁢
m
⁢
D
^
2
D
^
2
-
D
^
1
wherein SusCapest represents the sustainable capacity value, δm represents a load difference between the second probe sequence and the first probe sequence, {circumflex over (D)}2 represents the second probe estimate, and {circumflex over (D)}1 represents the first probe estimate.

21 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Active probing for sustainable capacity estimation of networked dataflows

Life of this patent

Active probing for sustainable capacity estimation of networked dataflows

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims58