Optimized data streaming detection and prioritization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12088482-B2
Application number	US-202117356184-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2021
Priority date	Jun 23, 2020
Publication date	Sep 10, 2024
Grant date	Sep 10, 2024

Abstract

An example method may include receiving first data packets intended for a client device at a virtual private network (VPN) server, receiving, concurrently with the first data packets, second data packets at the VPN server, identifying, via the VPN server, whether the first or second packets correspond to a real-time streaming session based on one or more of header information and packet size of the first and second packets and a transmission rate associated with the first and second packets, prioritizing the first data packets, identified as real-time streaming session data packets, to be delivered to the client device prior to the second data packets, identified as non-real-time streaming session data packets, and performing connection bonding or connection mirroring using two or more connections when one or more of a data packet loss rate is above a threshold packet loss rate and the transmission rate is below a threshold transmission rate.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, concurrently, a first plurality of data packets and a second plurality of data packets intended for a client device at a virtual private network (VPN) server;
identifying, via the VPN server, whether the first or second plurality of packets correspond to a real-time streaming session;
prioritizing, via the VPN server, the first plurality of data packets, identified as real-time streaming session data packets, to be delivered to the client device prior to the second plurality of data packets, identified as non-real-time streaming session data packets;
performing, via the VPN server, connection bonding using two or more connections when the first plurality of data packets is experiencing one or more of a data packet loss rate that is above a threshold packet loss rate and a transmission rate that is below a threshold transmission rate, wherein the transmission rate of the first plurality of packets is incrementally increased to a faster optimal transmission rate on the bonded connections for a period of time until the packet loss rate decreases below the threshold packet loss rate; and
when the packet loss rate is identified as having decreased, reducing a transmission rate of one of the two or more connections and maintaining a transmission rate of another of the two or more connections.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising
determining packet data sizes of at least a portion of the first plurality of data packets received over a period of time;
determining whether the packet data sizes are within a margin of a target packet data size indicative of a streaming data packet; and
identifying the first plurality of data packets as streaming data packets.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising
determining the transmission rate of at least a portion of the first plurality of data packets received over a period of time;
determining whether the transmission rate is within a margin of a target transmission rate indicative of streaming data packets; and
identifying the first plurality of data packets as streaming data packets.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prioritizing the first plurality of data packets over the second plurality of data packets for delivery to the client device based on header information of the one or more first plurality of data packets is performed based on one or more of a domain name, an IP address and a port identified in the header information.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising
auditing the first plurality of packets to identify the header information and the packet data size of the first plurality of packets for a plurality of separate time periods;
determining whether the packet data size for each of the first plurality of packets for each of the separate time periods are indicative of streaming data packets; and
performing the prioritization of the first plurality of packets when the first plurality of packets are identified as streaming data for each of the separate time periods.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising
selecting the transmission rate for the first plurality of packets to be transmitted and received by the client device over one or more connections to reduce a likelihood of communication errors;
determining whether the first plurality of data packets are transmitted and received over the one or more connections by the client device below a threshold packet loss rate; and
combining the connection with a further connection to form the bonded connections when the first plurality of data packets are received above the threshold packet loss rate.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the first plurality of data packets and the second plurality of data packets are transmitted over a Wi-Fi connection before the bonded connection is formed and over the Wi-Fi connection and a cellular connection after the bonded connection is formed comprising the two or more connections.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein when the packet loss rate decreases, reducing a transmission rate of the cellular connection and maintaining a transmission rate of the Wi-Fi connection.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising
selecting the transmission rate for the first plurality of packets to be received by the client device over a connection to reduce a likelihood of communication errors;
determining whether the first plurality of data packets are received over the connection by the client device below a threshold packet loss rate; and
combining the connection with a further connection to form a mirrored connection when the first plurality of data packets are received above the threshold packet loss rate.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising
populating a table stored in memory with streaming server identification information identifying a plurality of streaming servers; and
comparing the header information of the first and second plurality of data packets to the streaming server identification information stored in the table to identify whether the first and second plurality of packets originated from one or more of the plurality of data streaming servers, wherein the transmitting the first plurality of data packets to the client device using the transmission rate is performed via the virtual private network (VPN) server, and wherein the table is stored in the memory of the VPN server or the client device.

11. A virtual private network (VPN) server comprising
a receiver configured to
receive, concurrently, a first plurality of data packets and a second plurality of data packets intended for a client device;
a processor configured to
identify whether the first or second plurality of packets correspond to a real-time streaming session;
prioritize the first plurality of data packets, identified as real-time streaming session data packets, to be delivered to the client device prior to the second plurality of data packets, identified as non-real-time streaming session data packets;
perform connection bonding using two or more connections when the first plurality of data packets is experiencing one or more of a data packet loss rate that is above a threshold packet loss rate and a transmission rate is below a threshold transmission rate, wherein the transmission rate of the first plurality of packets is incrementally increased to a faster optimal transmission rate on the bonded connections for a period of time until the packet loss rate decreases below the threshold packet loss rate;
when the packet loss rate is identified as having decreased, reduce a transmission rate of one of the two or more connections and maintain a transmission rate of another of the two or more connections.

12. The VPN server of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to
determine packet data sizes of at least a portion of the first plurality of data packets received over a period of time;
determine whether the packet data sizes are within a margin of a target packet data size indicative of a streaming data packet; and
identify the first plurality of data packets as streaming data packets.

13. The VPN server of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to
determine the transmission rate of at least a portion of the first plurality of data packets received over a period of time;
determine whether the transmission rate is within a margin of a target transmission rate indicative of streaming data packets; and
identify the first plurality of data packets as streaming data packets.

14. The VPN server of claim 11 , wherein the prioritization of the first plurality of data packets over the second plurality of data packe

Assignees

• Connectify Inc

Inventors

• Cunningham Kevin
• Volek Harry
• Gizis Alexander
• Prodoehl Brian

Classifications

• H04L65/70

  Media network packetisation · CPC title

• H04L43/0829

  Packet loss · CPC title

• H04L43/16

  Threshold monitoring · CPC title

• H04L69/22

  Parsing or analysis of headers · CPC title

• H04L12/4641

  Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] (LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272) · CPC title