Managing the bandwidth of a communication session

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9351024-B2
Application number	US-201414481065-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2014
Priority date	Nov 29, 2011
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A system includes a processor operable to identify each of a plurality of first video packets from a communication session with a first identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on the network for the packet, and identify each of a plurality of second video packets from the communication session with a second identifier designating that bandwidth is not reserved on the network for the packet. The system further includes an interface operable to initiate transmission of the plurality of first video packets and the plurality of second video packets in the communication session.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a processor operable to:
designate a plurality of first video packets from a communication session with a first identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the first video packets; and
designate a plurality of second video packets from the communication session with a second identifier designating that bandwidth is not reserved on the network for the second video packets;
monitor an available bandwidth on the network; and
adjust, during the communication session, based on the monitored available bandwidth, a bandwidth of at least one from a set comprising:
the plurality of first video packets; and
the plurality of second video packets, the bandwidth of the plurality of second video packets adjusted by adjusting at least one from a set comprising: video frame rate, quantization, and video resolution; and

an interface operable to initiate transmission of the plurality of first video packets and the plurality of second video packets in the communication session.

2. The system of claim 1 , the interface further operable to receive an allocated bandwidth amount, the allocated bandwidth amount representing an amount of bandwidth reserved on the network for the plurality of first video packets.

3. The system of claim 1 :
the interface further operable to receive a maximum bandwidth amount, the maximum bandwidth amount representing a maximum amount of bandwidth on the network allowed for communication session; and
the processor further operable to adjust the bandwidth of the plurality of second video packets based on the received maximum bandwidth amount such that the bandwidth of the communication session does not exceed the maximum bandwidth amount.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a packet identifier located in at least one from a set comprising:
a differentiated services code point (DSCP) field of the header of a data packet;
a real-time transport protocol header extension of a data packet;
a payload of a data packet; and
a transport format of a data packet.

5. The system of claim 1 , each of the plurality of first video packets identified with the first identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the first video packets; and
each of the plurality of second video packets identified with the second identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the second video packets.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising logic, the logic, when executed by a processor, operable to:
designate a plurality of first video packets from a communication session with a first identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the first video packets;
designate a plurality of second video packets from the communication session with a second identifier designating that bandwidth is not reserved on the network for the second video packets;
monitor an available bandwidth on the network; and
adjust, during the communication session, based on the monitored available bandwidth, a bandwidth of at least one from a set comprising:
the plurality of first video packets; and
the plurality of second video packets, the bandwidth of the plurality of second video packets adjusted by adjusting at least one from a set comprising: video frame rate, quantization, and video resolution; and

initiate transmission of the plurality of first video packets and the plurality of second video packets in the communication session.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6 , the logic further operable to receive an allocated bandwidth amount, the allocated bandwidth amount representing an amount of bandwidth reserved on the network for the plurality of first video packets.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 6 , the logic further operable to:
receive a maximum bandwidth amount, the maximum bandwidth amount representing a maximum amount of bandwidth on the network allowed for communication session; and
adjust the bandwidth of the plurality of second video packets based on the received maximum bandwidth amount such that the bandwidth of the communication session does not exceed the maximum bandwidth amount.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 6 , further comprising a packet identifier located in at least one from a set comprising:
a differentiated services code point (DSCP) field of the header of a data packet;
a real-time transport protocol header extension of a data packet;
a payload of a data packet; and
a transport format of a data packet.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 6 , each of the plurality of first video packets identified with the first identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the first video packets; and
each of the plurality of second video packets identified with the second identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the second video packets.

11. A method, comprising:
designating, by a processor, a plurality of first video packets from a communication session with a first identifier, the first identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the first video packets;
designating, by a processor, a plurality of second video packets from the communication session with a second identifier, the second identifier designating that bandwidth is not reserved on the network for the second video packets;
monitoring, by a processor, an available bandwidth on the network; and
adjusting, by a processor, during the communication session, based on the monitored available bandwidth, a bandwidth of at least one from a set comprising:
the plurality of first video packets; and
the plurality of second video packets, the bandwidth of the plurality of second video packets adjusted by adjusting at least one from a set comprising: video frame rate, quantization, and video resolution; and

initiating transmission of the plurality of first video packets and the plurality of second video packets in the communication session.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving an allocated bandwidth amount, the allocated bandwidth amount representing an amount of bandwidth reserved on the network for the plurality of first video packets.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving a maximum bandwidth amount, the maximum bandwidth amount representing a maximum amount of bandwidth on the network allowed for communication session; and
adjusting the bandwidth of the plurality of second video packets based on the received maximum bandwidth amount such that the bandwidth of the communication session does not exceed the maximum bandwidth amount.

14. The method of claim 11 , each of the plurality of first video packets identified with the first identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the first video packets; and
each of the plurality of second video packets identified with the second identifier designating that bandwidth is reserved on a network for the second video packets.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Ramalho Michael A
• Eckert Toerless T
• Zanaty Mohamed K
• Zilovic Mihailo
• Coffman James E

Classifications

• H04N21/2385 Primary

  Channel allocation (H04N21/266 takes precedence); Bandwidth allocation (H04N21/24 takes precedence {; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16}) · CPC title

• H04L43/0882

  Utilisation of link capacity · CPC title

• H04N21/2402

  Monitoring of the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. bandwidth available (traffic monitoring in data switching networks H04L43/00; monitoring data switching networks utilization H04L43/0876) · CPC title