Bandwidth Management Across Logical Groupings of Access Points
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Solution Overview
Problem
In shared access broadband networks, existing methods for inroute bandwidth allocation focus solely on individual inroute groups, leading to congestion and unsatisfied quality of service (QoS) due to prioritization issues and limited bandwidth, where low-priority traffic can block high-priority traffic.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a hybrid centralized-distributed bandwidth management system that monitors and aggregates bandwidth usage across multiple terminal groups, calculates scaling factors, and adjusts bandwidth allocation dynamically to ensure targeted allocations and maintain QoS by using a bandwidth manager and inroute group managers to manage bandwidth usage and throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing methods for inroute bandwidth allocation are used, then individual inroute groups can be managed, but network congestion occurs and QoS cannot be satisfied due to limited bandwidth and prioritization issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple inroute groups into terminal groups (TGs) that can share bandwidth across different inroutes. This merging allows aggregated bandwidth management where low-priority traffic in one inroute group can be compensated by available bandwidth in another inroute group, preventing network congestion while maintaining QoS requirements.
2Productivity
If bandwidth is shared across multiple inroute groups, then bandwidth utilization improves, but it becomes difficult to manage prioritization and prevent low-priority traffic from blocking high-priority traffic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments bandwidth management into two hierarchical levels: terminal group level (for prioritization and QoS control) and inroute group level (for actual bandwidth allocation). This segmentation allows centralized management of traffic priorities at the TG level while distributing the actual bandwidth allocation decisions across multiple IGMs, reducing overall management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces terminal group managers (TGMs) as intermediary entities between the network controller and inroute group managers. TGMs aggregate bandwidth usage information from multiple IGMs, calculate scaling factors, and coordinate bandwidth allocation across inroute groups, simplifying the management of shared bandwidth while maintaining prioritization control.
3Reliability
If dynamic bandwidth allocation is implemented across terminal groups, then QoS and congestion prevention improve, but system complexity increases due to centralized-distributed coordination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic bandwidth allocation where terminal groups can scale their bandwidth usage based on real-time network conditions and traffic priorities. Scaling factors are dynamically calculated and adjusted by TGMs to balance load across inroute groups, preventing congestion while adapting to changing traffic patterns without requiring complex static configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes feedback loops where IGMs report bandwidth usage and backlog information to TGMs, which then adjust scaling factors accordingly. This feedback mechanism enables automatic congestion prevention and QoS maintenance through continuous monitoring and adjustment, reducing the need for complex manual intervention while maintaining system reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods provide bandwidth management on the inroute of a satellite network. Inroute group managers (IGMs) monitor bandwidth usage in each terminal group (TG) under each of the IGMs, and report this bandwidth usage to a bandwidth manager. Upon receipt of the reported bandwidth usage from each of the IGMs, the bandwidth manager compares the bandwidth usage and minimum/maximum throughput rates associated with each TG. The bandwidth manager calculates scaling factors that it transmits to each of the IGMs to allow the IGMs to allocate bandwidth accordingly.