Network traffic split among multiple paths

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9985874-B2
Application number	US-201514872173-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 1, 2015
Priority date	Oct 1, 2015
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

A transmitter includes a buffer programmed to queue packets and a computing device having a processor and a data storage medium. The computing device is programmed to generate at least two sub-packets from each of the plurality of packets stored in the queue. For each sub-packet, the computing device is programmed to identify a plurality of transmission opportunities. Each transmission opportunity is associated with one of a plurality of networks. The computing device is further programmed to select among the plurality of transmission opportunities and transmit the sub-packet over the network associated with the selected transmission opportunity.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A transmitter comprising:
a buffer; and
a computing device having a processor and a non-transitory data storage medium, wherein the computing device is programmed to generate at least a first sub-packet and a second sub-packet from a packet stored in the buffer and identify a plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the first sub-packet and identify a plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the second sub-packet,
wherein each transmission opportunity is associated with one of a plurality of networks and wherein each transmission opportunity defines a different length of transmission time and at least one of a different time slot and a different amount of data transmission capacity available to transmit one of the first and second sub-packets over one of the plurality of networks, and
wherein the computing device is further programmed to select a first transmission opportunity from among the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the first sub-packet and transmit the first sub-packet over the network associated with the first transmission opportunity, and
wherein the computing device is further programmed to select a second transmission opportunity from among the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the second sub-packet and transmit the second sub-packet over the network associated with the second transmission opportunity.

2. The transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the first transmission opportunity and the second transmission opportunity are associated with different networks.

3. The transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is programmed to transmit the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet in a predetermined order.

4. The transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is programmed to assign a first priority to the first sub-packet and a second priority to the second sub-packet, wherein the computing device is programmed to transmit the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet according to the first priority and the second priority.

5. The transmitter of claim 4 , wherein the second priority is higher than the first priority and the computing device is programmed to transmit the second sub-packet before the first sub-packet.

6. The transmitter of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of networks includes a scrambled coded multiple access (SCMA) network.

7. The transmitter of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is programmed to transmit the first sub-packet over a first network path associated with the first transmission opportunity and transmit the second sub-packet over a second network path associated with the second transmission opportunity after transmitting the first sub-packet over the first network path.

8. The transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the computing device is programmed to generate the first sub-packet according to a communication protocol associated with the first network path and further programmed to generate the second sub-packet according to a communication protocol associated with the second network path after generating the first sub-packet.

9. The transmitter of claim 8 , wherein the computing device is programmed to identify the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the second sub-packet after transmitting the first sub-packet over the first network path.

10. The transmitter of claim 8 , wherein the computing device is programmed to generate the first sub-packet after identifying the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the first sub-packet.

11. The transmitter of claim 10 , wherein the computing device is programmed to generate the second sub-packet after identifying the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the second sub-packet.

12. A telecommunications system comprising:
a transmitter programmed to queue packets and generate at least a first sub-packet and a second sub-packet from one of the packets, and wherein the transmitter is further programmed to:
identify a plurality of transmission opportunities for each of the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet, wherein each transmission opportunity is associated with one of a plurality of networks and wherein each transmission opportunity defines a different length of transmission time and at least one of a different time slot and a different amount of data transmission capacity available to transmit one of the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet,
select among the plurality of transmission opportunities, wherein selecting among the plurality of transmission opportunities includes selecting a first transmission opportunity from among the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the first sub-packet and selecting a second transmission opportunity from among the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the second sub-packet, and
transmit the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet over the networks associated with the first transmission opportunity and the second transmission opportunity, respectively; and
a receiver programmed to receive the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet transmitted over the networks associated with the first transmission opportunity and the second transmission opportunity, respectively.

13. The telecommunications system of claim 12 , wherein the transmitter is programmed to transmit the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet in a predetermined order.

14. The telecommunications system of claim 13 , wherein the transmitter is programmed to assign a first priority to the first sub-packet and a second priority to the second sub-packet and transmit the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet according to the first priority and the second priority.

15. The telecommunications system of claim 12 , wherein one of the plurality of networks includes a scrambled coded multiple access (SCMA) network, and wherein the transmitter and receiver are programmed to communicate over the SCMA network in addition to at least one other network.

16. A method comprising:
queuing a packet in a buffer;
generating a first sub-packet and a second sub-packet, from the packet queued in the buffer;
identifying a plurality of transmission opportunities for each of the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet, wherein each transmission opportunity is associated with one of a plurality of networks and wherein each transmission opportunity defines a different length of transmission time and at least one of a different time slot and a different amount of data transmission capacity available to transmit one of the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet;
selecting among the plurality of transmission opportunities, wherein selecting among the plurality of transmission opportunities includes selecting a first transmission opportunity from among the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the first sub-packet and selecting a second transmission opportunity from among the plurality of transmission opportunities available for transmitting the second sub-packet; and
transmitting the first sub-packet and the second sub-packet over the networks associated with the first transmission opportunity and the second transmission opportunity, respectively.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
determining a first priority associated with the first sub-packet;
determining a second priority associated with the second sub-packet; and
transmitting the first

Assignees

• Hughes Network Systems Llc

Inventors

• Border John
• Torres Robert

Classifications

• H04W88/06

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04L45/24 Primary

  Multipath · CPC title

• H04L47/6275

  based on priority · CPC title

• H04W28/065

  using assembly or disassembly of packets · CPC title