Network Bandwidth Probing for Unknown Excess Capacity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication networks often oversubscribe bandwidth, leading to unknown excess capacity that can cause increased latency and packet loss when users exceed their allotted bandwidth, making it difficult to opportunistically utilize additional bandwidth for emergency or priority usage.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for assessing network bandwidth availability by maintaining a data structure to store estimated maximum network capacity values, using probe data payloads with redundant data to monitor network response characteristics, and iteratively adjusting probing steps to update capacity estimates, allowing for risk-adjusted and cooperative bandwidth allocation across multiple devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If network bandwidth is oversubscribed to improve resource utilization, then productivity increases, but reliability deteriorates due to increased latency and packet loss when capacity is exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary probing actions by sending test packets at increasing rates before actual data transmission. This advance exploration identifies the maximum sustainable bandwidth and establishes performance baselines, allowing the system to operate near capacity limits while maintaining reliability through pre-knowledge of network conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors network performance metrics including latency, packet loss, and throughput during probing and operation. This feedback loop enables dynamic adjustment of transmission rates and identification of capacity thresholds, allowing the system to optimize resource utilization while preventing quality of service degradation by operating within measured performance boundaries.
2Measurement precision
If probe data payloads with redundant data are transmitted to assess network capacity, then measurement precision improves, but loss of substance increases due to additional overhead data
Solution Approach 1:
The system transmits probe packets that intentionally exceed the nominal allocated bandwidth to discover the true maximum capacity. By sending more data than the official allocation allows, the system uncovers the actual usable bandwidth and identifies the threshold where quality of service degradation begins, enabling more efficient future utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The probing mechanism varies multiple parameters including packet size, transmission rate, and protocol types to comprehensively assess network capacity under different conditions. This multi-parameter approach provides precise characterization of network behavior across various operating points, enabling accurate bandwidth assessment that accounts for real-world variability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If iterative probing is performed to update capacity estimates, then adaptability improves, but loss of time increases due to continuous monitoring overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs bandwidth probing periodically rather than continuously, establishing capacity estimates at regular intervals and using these periodic measurements to guide transmission decisions. This periodic approach maintains adaptability to changing network conditions while minimizing the time overhead associated with constant monitoring and re-assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The probing intensity and frequency are dynamically adjusted based on network conditions and observed variability. When network conditions are stable, probing occurs less frequently; when conditions change or new capacity is discovered, probing intensifies to capture the new state. This dynamic approach balances adaptability with minimizing time overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, a computer implemented method for assessing network bandwidth availability in a network connection having unknown excess capacity beyond an initial network capacity is provided. There are two cases to be considered: (1) the network has a given capacity and the system doesn't know what it is (e.g., on a cellular network) this capacity may change over time as more users use the network and/or a user is mobile, and (2) the system is assigned capacity but by pushing the network, the system may be able to get more capacity (e.g., on a satellite hub). The excess capacity may be quantified for future potential opportunistic, emergency or priority usage, or in some embodiments, utilized periodically or continuously.