AV Packet Delivery via Local Retransmission and Pacing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing AV packet delivery systems over local area networks face issues with packet loss and back pressure due to varying data transfer rates among devices, leading to inefficient transmission and congestion.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a network device with an advanced stream processor (ASP) that acts as a proxy for TCP connections, enabling local area network retransmission of lost packets without roundtripping to the content server and pacing packets at Ethernet boundaries to manage data transfer rates, thereby reducing latency and congestion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If AV packets are transmitted over a local area network to multiple electronic devices, then bandwidth utilization is improved, but packet loss occurs due to varying data transfer rates among devices
Solution Approach 1:
The network device acts as an intermediary between the content server and electronic devices. It receives AV packets from the content server, buffers them in memory, and manages retransmission to electronic devices. This intermediary role allows the network device to handle packet delivery issues locally without requiring constant communication with the content server, thereby maintaining high bandwidth utilization while improving packet delivery reliability through local retransmission capabilities.
2Reliability
If packet retransmission is implemented over the wide area network to content server, then packet loss is recovered, but latency increases due to roundtrip communication
Solution Approach 1:
The network device performs preliminary actions by buffering incoming AV packets in memory before they are fully processed and distributed to electronic devices. This pre-buffering allows the network device to immediately retransmit lost packets from its local buffer without needing to request retransmission from the content server, significantly reducing retransmission latency while maintaining packet delivery reliability.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If data transmission is paced at Ethernet boundaries, then congestion is reduced, but transmission efficiency decreases due to additional processing
Solution Approach 1:
The network device applies different transmission strategies to different data streams based on local conditions. It paces packets at Ethernet boundaries for streams that require congestion control, while allowing other streams to flow more freely. This localized application of pacing rules reduces overall network congestion while minimizing the impact on transmission efficiency by not applying pacing uniformly to all traffic.
Data Source
AI summary
A network device providing audio-video packet delivery over a local area network may include a memory and at least one processor. The at least one processor may be configured to receive data packets from a server, the data packets being addressed to an electronic device downstream from the network device. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine whether the data packets satisfy an offload condition. The at least one processor may be further configured to, when the data packets satisfy the offload condition: transmit, to the server, acknowledgement packets corresponding to the received data packets, store the data packets in a buffer, transmit the data packets to the electronic device, and retransmit the data packets to the electronic device responsive to request therefor, the retransmitted data packets being retrieved from the buffer.