Proactive upstream scheduling for flows in a point-to-multipoint communications network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9820275-B2
Application number	US-201615130629-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2016
Priority date	Apr 15, 2016
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes predicting a user average data rate for a cable modem; establishing a minimum bandwidth grant size and a maximum bandwidth grant size for the cable modem based on the predicted user average data rate; receiving from the cable modem a request for a particular amount of bandwidth; performing an overgrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is less than the minimum bandwidth grant size, in which the overgrant comprises granting to the cable modem more than the requested particular amount of bandwidth; and performing an undergrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is greater than the maximum bandwidth grant size, in which the undergrant comprises granting to the cable modem less than the requested particular amount of bandwidth.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
predicting a user average data rate for a cable modem;
establishing a minimum bandwidth grant size and a maximum bandwidth grant size for the cable modem based on the predicted user average data rate;
receiving from the cable modem a request for a particular amount of bandwidth;
performing an overgrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is less than the minimum bandwidth grant size, wherein the overgrant comprises granting to the cable modem more than the requested particular amount of bandwidth;
performing an undergrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is greater than the maximum bandwidth grant size, wherein the undergrant comprises granting to the cable modem less than the requested particular amount of bandwidth; and
if a predetermined period of time passes without receipt of another bandwidth request from the cable modem, performing an unsolicited pre-grant with respect to the cable modem in which a predetermined amount of bandwidth is granted to the cable modem.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
periodically re-predicting the user average data rate for the cable modem; and
updating the minimum bandwidth grant size and the maximum bandwidth grant size based on the re-predicted user average data rate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted user average data rate comprises a moving average of bandwidth requests received from the cable modem.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the establishing comprises:
setting the maximum bandwidth grant size to (100+X) % of the predicted user average data rate; and
setting the minimum bandwidth grant size to (100−X) % of the predicted user average data rate;
wherein X is an integer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein an amount of the overgrant comprises at least one of a percentage increase in the particular amount of bandwidth, a fixed number of bytes, and a number of bytes that makes the particular amount of bandwidth equal to the maximum grant threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein an amount of the undergrant comprises at least one of a percentage decrease in the particular amount of bandwidth, a fixed number of bytes, and a number of bytes that makes the particular amount of bandwidth equal to the minimum grant threshold.

7. One or more non-transitory tangible media that includes code for execution and when executed by a processor is operable to perform operations comprising:
predicting a user average data rate for a cable modem;
establishing a minimum bandwidth grant size and a maximum bandwidth grant size for the cable modem based on the predicted user average data rate;
receiving from the cable modem a request for a particular amount of bandwidth;
performing an overgrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is less than the minimum bandwidth grant size, wherein the overgrant comprises granting to the cable modem more than the requested particular amount of bandwidth;
performing an undergrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is greater than the maximum bandwidth grant size, wherein the undergrant comprises granting to the cable modem less than the requested particular amount of bandwidth; and
if a predetermined period of time passes without receipt of another bandwidth request from the cable modem, performing an unsolicited pre-grant with respect to the cable modem in which a predetermined amount of bandwidth is granted to the cable modem.

8. The media of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
periodically re-predicting the user average data rate for the cable modem; and
updating the minimum bandwidth grant size and the maximum bandwidth grant size based on the re-predicted user average data rate.

9. The media of claim 7 , wherein the predicted user average data rate comprises a moving average of bandwidth requests received from the cable modem.

10. The media of claim 7 , wherein the establishing comprises:
setting the maximum bandwidth grant size to (100+X) % of the predicted user average data rate; and
setting the minimum bandwidth grant size to (100−X) % of the predicted user average data rate;
wherein X is an integer.

11. The media of claim 7 , wherein an amount of the overgrant comprises at least one of a percentage increase in the particular amount of bandwidth, a fixed number of bytes, and a number of bytes that makes the particular amount of bandwidth equal to the maximum grant threshold.

12. The media of claim 7 , wherein an amount of the undergrant comprises at least one of a percentage decrease in the particular amount of bandwidth, a fixed number of bytes, and a number of bytes that makes the particular amount of bandwidth equal to the minimum grant threshold.

13. An apparatus comprising:
a memory element configured to store data;
a processor operable to execute instructions associated with the data; and
a proactive scheduling module configured to:
predict a user average data rate for a cable modem;
establish a minimum bandwidth grant size and a maximum bandwidth grant size for the cable modem based on the predicted user average data rate;
receive from the cable modem a request for a particular amount of bandwidth;
perform an overgrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is less than the minimum bandwidth grant size, wherein the overgrant comprises granting to the cable modem more than the requested particular amount of bandwidth;
perform an undergrant if the particular amount of bandwidth is greater than the maximum bandwidth grant size, wherein the undergrant comprises granting to the cable modem less than the requested particular amount of bandwidth; and
if a predetermined period of time passes without receipt of another bandwidth request from the cable modem, perform an unsolicited pre-grant with respect to the cable modem in which a predetermined amount of bandwidth is granted to the cable modem.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the proactive scheduling module is further configured to:
periodically re-predict the user average data rate for the cable modem; and
update the minimum bandwidth grant size and the maximum bandwidth grant size based on the re-predicted user average data rate.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the predicted user average data rate comprises a moving average of bandwidth requests received from the cable modem.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the establishing comprises:
setting the maximum bandwidth grant size to (100+X) % of the predicted user average data rate; and
setting the minimum bandwidth grant size to (100−X) % of the predicted user average data rate;
wherein X is an integer.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein an amount of the overgrant comprises at least one of a percentage increase in the particular amount of bandwidth, a fixed number of bytes, and a number of bytes that makes the particular amount of bandwidth equal to the maximum grant threshold; and wherein an amount of the undergrant comprises at least one of a percentage decrease in the particular amount of bandwidth, a fixed number of bytes, and a number of bytes that makes the particular amount of bandwidth equal to the minimum grant threshold.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Jin Hang
• Chapman John T
• White Gerard
• Bernstein Alon

Classifications

• H04W72/23

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title

• H04W72/0446 Primary

  Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames · CPC title

• H04L47/76

  using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation requested by the user or requested by the network in response to changing network conditions · CPC title

• H04L47/788

  Autonomous allocation of resources · CPC title

• H04L47/822

  Collecting or measuring resource availability data · CPC title