EP0413488A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Arrangement for regulating traffic in a high speed data network
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1990-08-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-08-06
Abstract
Abstract The invention relates to methods and apparatus for regulating traffic in a Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN) 30. Terminal adapters 20,21 interface between terminals 10,11 and the B-ISDN 30. Whenever a first terminal 10 wishes to transmit a data message to a second terminal 11, the source adapter 20, connected to the first terminal, allocates transmit bandwidth for the transmission of the message and sends a request message to a destination adapter 21, connected to the second terminal, for checking availability of and allocating receive bandwidth. The data message is sent only if bandwidth has been allocated on both ends. Overflow traffic is throttled at the adapters before it enters the network, thereby reducing the number of data cells lost because of the limited storage of the network.
Inventors
- 👤 Rolfe Erwin Buhrke
- 👤 Dennis L. Debruler
- 👤 Vikram Punj
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 15:43
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L12/5602; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04Q11/0478; H04L2012/5614; H04L2012/5615; H04L2012/5629; H04L2012/563; H04L2012/5631; H04L2012/5632
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
126 words
In a data network, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal comprising the steps of: determining 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, determining 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 to the receiving terminal.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
126 words
In a data network, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal comprising the steps of: determining 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, determining 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 to the receiving terminal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: 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.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the step of recording comprises: recording, in said ingress controller, data defining the destination, the amount of bandwidth, and identifying a time of the request.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of: periodically checking for requests for bandwidth in the recorded data and repeating attempts to allocate said requested bandwidth in an ingress controller for said receiving terminal and said egress controller.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 4 further comprising the steps of: separately recording all requests whose age exceeds a predetermined threshold; and attempting to allocate bandwidth to the separately recorded requests on a priority basis.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 5 wherein said step of attempting to allocate comprises: sending repeated requests to allocate bandwidth to the egress controller.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
69 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining whether said amount of bandwidth is available at the egress comprises: sending a request message from the ingress controller to the egress controller; 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.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 7 further comprising: if said checking step determines that said amount of bandwidth is available, allocating said amount of bandwidth.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of claim 7 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.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1 where said ingress controller and said egress controller each comprise a terminal adapter for receiving data from and transmitting data to a plurality of connected terminals.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1 wherein said data network is a broadband ISDN network.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of allocating bandwidth at the ingress controller comprises: periodically sorting by age, requests for which transmit bandwidth has not been allocated; and attempting to allocate bandwidth for oldest requests first.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
215 words
A terminal adapter for connection to a data network 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 allocating 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.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
215 words
A terminal adapter for connection to a data network 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 allocating 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.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
29 words
The terminal adapter of claim 13 wherein the terminal interface comprises: protocol handler means for interfacing between the two storage means and the data from and to the terminals.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
36 words
The terminal adapter of claim 13 wherein the processor means comprises: storage means for storing requests to transmit messages and for storing data defining blocks of bandwidth allocated to transmit and receive messages over the network.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
395 words
A method of allocating resources in a broadband ISDN for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal comprising the steps of: determining an amount of bandwidth required for the transmitting terminal; determining 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, determining 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 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 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.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
395 words
A method of allocating resources in a broadband ISDN for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal comprising the steps of: determining an amount of bandwidth required for the transmitting terminal; determining 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, determining 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 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 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.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
105 words
In a data network, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal, comprising: determining if adequate bandwidth for transmission of the data is available at an ingress facility having allocable bandwidth on a common transmission medium to the network, the ingress facility connected to the transmitting terminal, and at an egress facility having allocable bandwidth on a common transmission medium from the network, the egress facility connected to the receiving terminal; and when said adequate bandwidth is available at both the ingress facility and the egress facility, allocating said adequate bandwidth to said transmission of data.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
105 words
In a data network, a method of allocating resources for transmission of data from a transmitting terminal to a receiving terminal, comprising: determining if adequate bandwidth for transmission of the data is available at an ingress facility having allocable bandwidth on a common transmission medium to the network, the ingress facility connected to the transmitting terminal, and at an egress facility having allocable bandwidth on a common transmission medium from the network, the egress facility connected to the receiving terminal; and when said adequate bandwidth is available at both the ingress facility and the egress facility, allocating said adequate bandwidth to said transmission of data.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 17 further comprising: transmitting said data after said adequate bandwidth is allocated.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
69 words
A terminal adapter for connection to a data network, 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 bandwidth in another terminal adapter; and means responsive to receipt of a signaling message from said another terminal adapter confirming allocation of receive bandwidth for initiating transmission of said data message.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
69 words
A terminal adapter for connection to a data network, 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 bandwidth in another terminal adapter; and means responsive to receipt of a signaling message from said another terminal adapter confirming allocation of receive bandwidth for initiating transmission of said data message.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
63 words
A terminal adapter for connection to a data network, comprising: means, responsive to receipt of a signaling message from another terminal adapter, for testing for availability of receive bandwidth; means, responsive to said means for testing, for allocating said receive bandwidth if available and for transmitting a reply message for enabling or disabling transmission of a data message from said another terminal adapter.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
63 words
A terminal adapter for connection to a data network, comprising: means, responsive to receipt of a signaling message from another terminal adapter, for testing for availability of receive bandwidth; means, responsive to said means for testing, for allocating said receive bandwidth if available and for transmitting a reply message for enabling or disabling transmission of a data message from said another terminal adapter.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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