US5991272A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method and apparatus for controlling a communications network
Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC
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Filing: 1994-12-02
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Granted: 1999-11-23
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Expires: 2014-12-02
Abstract
Abstract A method of controlling acceptance of a call by a network node in a communication network having a required quality of service includes the steps of determining an infimum of a function of the probability of the node being overloaded if the call if accepted and determining from that infimum the effective bandwidth of the calls to the node if that call should be accepted and determining a corresponding quality of service. The corresponding quality of service is then compared with a quality of service that is required for satisfactory operation of the network. If the quality if maintained or exceeded then the call is accepted for the node.
Inventors
- 👤 Peter Bernard Key
- 👤 Andrew David Atkinson
- 👤 Thomas Rhodri Griffiths
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 21:28
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L12/5602; H04L2012/5614; H04L2012/5629; H04L2012/5631; H04L2012/5632
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
226 words
A method of controlling acceptance of calls for a node in a communications network, the node having a bandwidth carrying capacity C and being required to provide a given quality of service, the method comprising calculating, for an expression for the quality of service which will be provided by the node for different numbers of calls accepted by the node, which expression corresponds to Chernoff's theorem and is a function of (a) the number of calls, (b) the bandwidth carrying capacity C of the node, and (c) a quantity t represents a working variable the value θ of which is appropriate for each of the different numbers of calls is that which minimises the value of said expression the value of θ appropriate to selection of numbers of calls which form a subset of said different numbers, substituting into said expression the number of calls which will be carried by the node if a requested call is accepted and also the thus-calculated value of θ which is most appropriate for this number of calls, comparing the resulting value of said expression with the quality of service required from the node, and accepting the requested call if said resulting value is not less than the given quality of service, wherein said expression is n(1n(M((t)-tC where M(t) is the moment-generating function and n is the number of calls.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
226 words
A method of controlling acceptance of calls for a node in a communications network, the node having a bandwidth carrying capacity C and being required to provide a given quality of service, the method comprising calculating, for an expression for the quality of service which will be provided by the node for different numbers of calls accepted by the node, which expression corresponds to Chernoff's theorem and is a function of (a) the number of calls, (b) the bandwidth carrying capacity C of the node, and (c) a quantity t represents a working variable the value θ of which is appropriate for each of the different numbers of calls is that which minimises the value of said expression the value of θ appropriate to selection of numbers of calls which form a subset of said different numbers, substituting into said expression the number of calls which will be carried by the node if a requested call is accepted and also the thus-calculated value of θ which is most appropriate for this number of calls, comparing the resulting value of said expression with the quality of service required from the node, and accepting the requested call if said resulting value is not less than the given quality of service, wherein said expression is n(1n(M((t)-tC where M(t) is the moment-generating function and n is the number of calls.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said number of calls is constituted by a specification of the respective numbers of calls in a plurality of call classes.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each quality of service is a call loss probability.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the calculated values of θ are stored in a memory structure table.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said thus-calculated value of θ which is most appropriate for this number of calls is selected on the basis of comparing this number of calls with at least one threshold value.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
234 words
Apparatus for controlling acceptance of calls for a node in a communications network, the node having a bandwidth-carrying capacity C and being required to provide a given quality of service, the apparatus comprising means for calculating, for an expression for the quality of service which will be provided by the node for different numbers of calls accepted by the node, which expression corresponds to Chernoff's theorem and is a function of (a) the number of calls, (b) the bandwidth carrying capacity C of the node, and (c) a quantity t representing a working variable the value θ of which is appropriate for each of the different numbers of calls is that which minimises the value of said expression, the value of θ appropriate to a selection of numbers of calls which form a subset of said different numbers and including, means for substituting into said expression the number of calls which will be carried by the node if a requested call is accepted and also the thus-calculated value of θ which is most appropriate for this number of calls, means for comparing the resulting value of said expression with the quality of service required from the node, and means for accepting the requested call if said resulting value is not less than the given quality of service, wherein said expression n(1n(M(t))-tC where M(t) is the moment-generating function and n is the number of calls.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
234 words
Apparatus for controlling acceptance of calls for a node in a communications network, the node having a bandwidth-carrying capacity C and being required to provide a given quality of service, the apparatus comprising means for calculating, for an expression for the quality of service which will be provided by the node for different numbers of calls accepted by the node, which expression corresponds to Chernoff's theorem and is a function of (a) the number of calls, (b) the bandwidth carrying capacity C of the node, and (c) a quantity t representing a working variable the value θ of which is appropriate for each of the different numbers of calls is that which minimises the value of said expression, the value of θ appropriate to a selection of numbers of calls which form a subset of said different numbers and including, means for substituting into said expression the number of calls which will be carried by the node if a requested call is accepted and also the thus-calculated value of θ which is most appropriate for this number of calls, means for comparing the resulting value of said expression with the quality of service required from the node, and means for accepting the requested call if said resulting value is not less than the given quality of service, wherein said expression n(1n(M(t))-tC where M(t) is the moment-generating function and n is the number of calls.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
29 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein each said number of calls is constituted by a specification of the respective numbers of calls in a plurality of call classes.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein each quality of service is a call loss probability.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
18 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, including a memory structure table which stores the calculated value of θ.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, including means for selecting said thus-calculated value of θ which is most appropriate for this number of calls on the basis of comparing the number of calls with at least one threshold value.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
246 words
A method of controlling acceptance of a call for a node in a communication network, the node having a call carrying capacity and the network having a required quality of service, the method comprising: determining theta values for respective mixes of calls, determining from said theta values, effective bandwidths for respective call types that would be handled by the node were the call to be accepted; determining from said effective bandwidths and said capacity a quality of service were the calls to be accepted; comparing the determined quality of service with the required quality of service and if the determined quality of service is not worse than the required quality of service, accepting the call for the node and wherein; said theta value determination includes a comparison of the number of calls of a particular call type that would be carried by the node were the call to be accepted and at least one threshold value of number of calls, wherein the theta value is determined using the Chernoff theorem by: determining a function, f(t), of the probability of the node being overloaded if the call is accepted; and determining a theta value θ which gives an infimum of the function f(t), wherein the function f(t) is nln(M(t))-tC where M(t) is a moment generating function for call traffic, n is the number of calls on the node if the call is accepted for the node, and t represents a working variable for determining the value θ.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
246 words
A method of controlling acceptance of a call for a node in a communication network, the node having a call carrying capacity and the network having a required quality of service, the method comprising: determining theta values for respective mixes of calls, determining from said theta values, effective bandwidths for respective call types that would be handled by the node were the call to be accepted; determining from said effective bandwidths and said capacity a quality of service were the calls to be accepted; comparing the determined quality of service with the required quality of service and if the determined quality of service is not worse than the required quality of service, accepting the call for the node and wherein; said theta value determination includes a comparison of the number of calls of a particular call type that would be carried by the node were the call to be accepted and at least one threshold value of number of calls, wherein the theta value is determined using the Chernoff theorem by: determining a function, f(t), of the probability of the node being overloaded if the call is accepted; and determining a theta value θ which gives an infimum of the function f(t), wherein the function f(t) is nln(M(t))-tC where M(t) is a moment generating function for call traffic, n is the number of calls on the node if the call is accepted for the node, and t represents a working variable for determining the value θ.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as in claim 11 wherein the quality of service parameter is the cell loss probability.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as in claim 11 wherein a plurality of theta values are calculated for respective different anticipated classes of call types carried by the network each class corresponding to a mix of call types.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method as in claim 11 where the theta value or values is/are stored in a memory structure table.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method as in claim 14 wherein the theta values are stored in a memory structure with associated classes.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method as in claim 15 wherein incoming calls to the network or nodes of a network are classified into a class and the theta value appropriate for that class obtained by reference to the memory structure storing the theta values and associated classes.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as in claim 11 wherein there is provided a memory structure of threshold values of number of calls and corresponding appropriate theta values.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as in claim 11 wherein there is provided a memory structure of threshold values of numbers of calls and corresponding appropriate theta values.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as in claim 18 wherein reference is made to the time of day to select at least one theta value.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as in claim 11 wherein performance of the communications network is monitored and the at least one theta value or some of the theta values are modified to enhance the performance.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
254 words
A method of controlling acceptance of a call for a node in a communication network, the node having a call carrying capacity and the network having a required quality of service, the apparatus comprising: means for determining a theta value for respective mixes of calls; means for determining an effective bandwidth for respective call types that would be handled by the node were the call to be accepted; means for determining from said effective bandwidths and said capacity a quality of service were the call to be accepted; means for comparing the determined quality of service with the required quality of service and if the determined quality of service is not worse than the required quality of service, accepting the call for the node; and wherein said theta value determining means compares the number of calls of a particular call type that would be carried by the node were the call to be accepted and at least one threshold value of number of calls, wherein said theta value determining means is operable to determine the theta value using the Chernoff theorem and comprises means for determining a theta value which gives an infimum of a function, f(t) of the probability of the node being overloaded if the call is accepted; wherein the function f(t) is nln(Mt))-tC where M(t) is a moment generating function for call traffic, n is the number of calls on the node if the call is accepted for the node, and t represents a working variable for determining said theta value.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
254 words
A method of controlling acceptance of a call for a node in a communication network, the node having a call carrying capacity and the network having a required quality of service, the apparatus comprising: means for determining a theta value for respective mixes of calls; means for determining an effective bandwidth for respective call types that would be handled by the node were the call to be accepted; means for determining from said effective bandwidths and said capacity a quality of service were the call to be accepted; means for comparing the determined quality of service with the required quality of service and if the determined quality of service is not worse than the required quality of service, accepting the call for the node; and wherein said theta value determining means compares the number of calls of a particular call type that would be carried by the node were the call to be accepted and at least one threshold value of number of calls, wherein said theta value determining means is operable to determine the theta value using the Chernoff theorem and comprises means for determining a theta value which gives an infimum of a function, f(t) of the probability of the node being overloaded if the call is accepted; wherein the function f(t) is nln(Mt))-tC where M(t) is a moment generating function for call traffic, n is the number of calls on the node if the call is accepted for the node, and t represents a working variable for determining said theta value.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
20 words
Apparatus as in claim 21 wherein the means for determining a quality of service parameter determines a cell loss probability.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus as in claim 21 further comprising memory to store the theta value for subsequent use.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
38 words
Apparatus as in claim 21 wherein the means for determining theta values determines a theta value for different anticipated classes of call types to be carried by the network, each class corresponding to a mix of call types.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as in claim 23 further comprising memory means to store the theta values as a table of theta values and corresponding classes of calls.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
37 words
Apparatus as in claim 24 including means to classify incoming calls to the network and for obtaining a theta value appropriate to that class from the memory means storing the theta values and corresponding classes of calls.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
28 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 21 including means for determining a time of day and to select a theta value or values appropriate to the time of day.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
50 words
Apparatus as in claim 21 including means to monitor the performance of the communications network and to modify a theta value or values to be used to determine a quality of service from an initial value to a modified value in order to improve the performance of the communications network.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus as in claim 28 wherein memory is provided to store the modified value or values.
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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) | 2002-11-22 | 2003-05-24 | 2003-11-23 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-11-22 | 2007-05-24 | 2007-11-23 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-11-22 | 2011-05-24 | 2011-11-23 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |