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US5742772A
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Resource management system for a broadband multipoint bridge
Assignee: Alcatel Lucent SAS
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Filing: 1997-05-05
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Granted: 1998-04-21
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Expires: 2017-05-05
Abstract
Abstract An electronic bridge resource management system, having a programmatically-implemented processing system. A bridge service interfaces with a plurality of clients and receives a quality of service (QOS) specification from each of the clients. A resource manager receives a QOS specification from the bridge service, distributes at least one QOS constraint associated with the QOS specification across flow processing modules of a channel, determines resource requirements for each of the flow processing modules, and then determines whether bridge resources can be allocated to meet the QOS specification. The clients may alter their QOS specifications and retry if the resource manager denies them admission because of a lack of available bridge resources.
Inventors
- 👤 Cormac J. Sreenan
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 19:27
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04Q11/0478; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L2012/5614; H04L2012/5616; H04L2012/5629; H04L2012/563; H04L2012/5631; H04L2012/5632; H04L2012/5638; H04L2012/564; H04L2012/5642; H04L2012/5643; H04L2012/5672; H04L2012/5674
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
173 words
An electronic multipoint bridge resource management system, comprising: a programmatically-implemented processing system having: a multipoint bridge service that interfaces with a plurality of clients and maintains record information about a group of said clients participating in a multi-user application, where said bridge service receives a quality of service (QOS) specification from each of said clients; and a resource manager that receives said QOS specification from said bridge service, distributes at least one QOS constraint associated with said QOS specification across flow processing modules of a channel, determines resource requirements for each of said flow processing modules, and determines whether bridge resources can be allocated to meet said QOS specification; wherein said clients may alter their QOS specifications and retry if said resource manager denies them admission because of a lack of available bridge resources; wherein said flow processing modules perform application-level functions including audio and/or video combination, synchronization or transformation, and where said flow processing modules are interconnected by flows for data transport; and wherein said resource requirements include memory, CPUs or DSPs.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
173 words
An electronic multipoint bridge resource management system, comprising: a programmatically-implemented processing system having: a multipoint bridge service that interfaces with a plurality of clients and maintains record information about a group of said clients participating in a multi-user application, where said bridge service receives a quality of service (QOS) specification from each of said clients; and a resource manager that receives said QOS specification from said bridge service, distributes at least one QOS constraint associated with said QOS specification across flow processing modules of a channel, determines resource requirements for each of said flow processing modules, and determines whether bridge resources can be allocated to meet said QOS specification; wherein said clients may alter their QOS specifications and retry if said resource manager denies them admission because of a lack of available bridge resources; wherein said flow processing modules perform application-level functions including audio and/or video combination, synchronization or transformation, and where said flow processing modules are interconnected by flows for data transport; and wherein said resource requirements include memory, CPUs or DSPs.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said client is a program running at a multimedia terminal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said processing system is implemented on a single host.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said processing system is implemented on a plurality of distributed hosts.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said processing system maintains group, client, channel, FPM/thread, and flow data structures.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 5, wherein said FPM/thread data structure includes a list of resource handles, where said resource handles entitle the associated flow processing module to specific bridge resources.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said QOS specification includes parameters indicating type of contract, traffic, and performance.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
97 words
A method for managing computer system resources, comprising the steps of: passing a quality of service (QOS) specification to a computer system; said computer system associating estimated computer system resources to application-level channel processing activities based upon constraints derived from said QOS specification; said computer systems granting or denying admission to computer systems resources depending on availability of said computer systems resources; and altering said QOS specification and retrying if admission is denied; wherein said channel processing activities include audio and/or video combination, synchronization or transformation and; wherein said computer system resources include memory, CPUs or DSPs.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
97 words
A method for managing computer system resources, comprising the steps of: passing a quality of service (QOS) specification to a computer system; said computer system associating estimated computer system resources to application-level channel processing activities based upon constraints derived from said QOS specification; said computer systems granting or denying admission to computer systems resources depending on availability of said computer systems resources; and altering said QOS specification and retrying if admission is denied; wherein said channel processing activities include audio and/or video combination, synchronization or transformation and; wherein said computer system resources include memory, CPUs or DSPs.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 8, wherein said computer system is a server.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 9, wherein said server is a bridge.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 10, wherein the step of passing a quality of service (QOS) specification includes the substeps of: a user specifying a high-level application QOS specification; and translating said application QOS specification to a low-level system QOS specification.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 10, wherein the step of associating estimated bridge resources to channel processing activities includes the substeps of: performing QOS constraint distribution across a set of flow processing modules associated with said channel processing activities; and determining resource requirements for each flow processing module.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: instantiating flow processing modules and assigning said flow processing modules to threads for execution.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: after a client is admitted to join a channel, a resource scheduler selecting a thread for execution from amongst a queue of said threads according to a scheduling policy.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: a reserver passing to said bridge a create group request specifying a future start time and future requirements of said group; translating said request to resource estimates; checking to determine any overlap with current resource allocations; sending a reply to said reserver indicating whether the necessary resources will be available.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 10, wherein the step of granting or denying admission further includes the step of determining whether client specified resource limits would be exceeded.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 8, wherein said computer system is a terminal.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
109 words
A Method for implementing a bridge degradation policy, comprising the steps of: a client passing service degradation policy information to a bridge, where said degradation policy information relates to a prioritization amongst clients, channels, and groups; said bridge storing data corresponding to said degradation policy information in a client, channel or group data structure; and said bridge implementing said degradation policy should a bridge resource overload occur; wherein bridge resources are allocated to execute flow processing modules which perform audio and/or video combination, synchronization or transformation as part of channel processing; and wherein said bridge resource overload occurs when there are insufficient resources to satisfy flow processing module requirements.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
109 words
A Method for implementing a bridge degradation policy, comprising the steps of: a client passing service degradation policy information to a bridge, where said degradation policy information relates to a prioritization amongst clients, channels, and groups; said bridge storing data corresponding to said degradation policy information in a client, channel or group data structure; and said bridge implementing said degradation policy should a bridge resource overload occur; wherein bridge resources are allocated to execute flow processing modules which perform audio and/or video combination, synchronization or transformation as part of channel processing; and wherein said bridge resource overload occurs when there are insufficient resources to satisfy flow processing module requirements.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 18, wherein said degradation policy specifies that a video channel should be degraded in preference to an audio channel.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 18, wherein said degradation policy utilizes resource price related information.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-04-20 | 2001-10-20 | 2002-04-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-04-20 | 2005-10-20 | 2006-04-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-04-20 | 2009-10-20 | 2010-04-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |