US6278693B1 — Communications systems with quality of service pa…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 109 words

A communications system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, said communications system including means responsive to requests for a desired quality of service specifying at least two quality of service parameters, for determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said determining means is responsive to quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 109 words

A communications system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, said communications system including means responsive to requests for a desired quality of service specifying at least two quality of service parameters, for determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said determining means is responsive to quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 25 words

The communications system of claim 1 , wherein said quality of service requests are received from applications intending to initiate data communications over said network.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 35 words

The communications system of claim 1 or 2 , wherein said determining means comprises means for comparing the requested quality of service parameters to facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 26 words

The communications system of claim 3 , wherein the available communications facilities for each communication link are specified in terms of available quality of service parameters.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 31 words

The communications system of claim 1 or 2 , wherein a specification of a desired quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, which is compiled by said determining means.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 29 words

The communications system of claim 4 , wherein a specification of an available quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, which is compiled by said determining means.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 36 words

The communications system of claim 1 , wherein one or more requested quality of service parameter is represented as a pair of values corresponding to the minimum and maximum of the desired range for those parameters.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 37 words

The communications system of claim 7 , wherein said determining means comprises comparing means for ascertaining whether the facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system lie within the range for each desired parameter.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 39 words

The communications system of claim 8 , wherein, in the event that said desired quality of service can be satisfied by the available quality of service, said comparing means produces an agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 28 words

The communications system of claim 9 , further including means for monitoring communications to ensure that they conform to the agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 62 words

The communications system of claim 1 , wherein said determining means further comprises means, responsive to a quality of service request which relates to a route that spans more than one communications system in said network, for communicating with said more than one communications systems, in order to obtain an overall determination of whether the quality of service request can be satisfied.

Claim 13

Independent Claim 117 words

A method for processing requests for a desired quality of service in a communications system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, including the steps of receiving desired quality of service requests specifying at least two quality of service parameters, and determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said determining step is responsive to quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

Claim 14

Independent Claim 117 words

A method for processing requests for a desired quality of service in a communications system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, including the steps of receiving desired quality of service requests specifying at least two quality of service parameters, and determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said determining step is responsive to quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein said quality of service requests are received from applications intending to initiate data communications over said network.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method of claim 12 or 13 , wherein said determining step comprises comparing the requested quality of service parameters to facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 14 , wherein the available communications facilities for each communication link are specified in terms of available quality of service parameters.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 37 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein a specification of a desired quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, and said determining step further includes the step of compiling said specifications in said pseudo-computer language.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method of claim 15 , wherein a specification of an available quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, and said determining step further includes the step of compiling said specifications in said computer-language.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 68 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein a specification of a desired quality of service is written in a pseudo-computer language, and said determining step further includes the step of compiling said specifications in said pseudo-computer language, and further wherein the compiled quality of service specifications are interpreted to determine whether or not there is a match between the specifications of the desired and available quality of service.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 33 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein each requested quality of service parameter is represented as a pair of values corresponding to the minimum and maximum of the desired range for that parameter.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method of claim 19 , wherein said step of determining includes ascertaining whether the facilities provided by the communications link(s) available to the communications system lie within the desired range for each parameter.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 40 words

The method of claim 20 , wherein, in the event that said desired quality of service can be satisfied by the available quality of service, said step of determining includes producing an agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 21 , further including the step of monitoring communications to ensure that they conform to the agreed range for each quality of service parameter.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 62 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein said determining step further comprises, responsive to a quality of service request which relates to a route that spans more than one communications system in said network, the step of communicating with said more than one communications systems, in order to obtain an overall determination of whether the quality of service request can be satisfied.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein said quality of service parameters include the data transmission rate.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 14 words

The method of claim 12 , wherein said quality of service parameters include latency.

Claim 28

Independent Claim 110 words

A system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, said system including means for requesting from a communications control system a desired quality of service specifying at least two quality of service parameters, said communications control system determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said system provides quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

Claim 29

Independent Claim 110 words

A system for transmitting and/or receiving data over a network, said system including means for requesting from a communications control system a desired quality of service specifying at least two quality of service parameters, said communications control system determining whether or not the requested quality of service is available, characterised in that said system provides quality of service requests specifying the desired quality of service as a logical expression involving two or more of said at least two quality of service parameters, wherein the value of at least one of the parameters is made dependent on the value of at least one other of the parameters by the logical expression.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2004-08-20	2005-02-19	2005-08-21	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2008-08-20	2009-02-19	2009-08-21	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2012-08-20	2013-02-19	2013-08-21	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Communications systems with quality of service parameters

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