Best-Effort Data Scheduling via Asynchronous Negative Acknowledgement
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for scheduling the transmission of best-effort data in communication networks, particularly those carrying digital audio-video signals, face challenges in providing reliable and efficient data transfer with multiple cooperating sources and improved client node capabilities for real-time and non-real-time data handling.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a network architecture with primary and assistant control nodes, a graphical user interface for scheduling jobs, and a client node architecture that includes a broker process and session manager for demultiplexing programs and ensuring reliable packet communication through asynchronous negative acknowledgement packets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If best-effort data is transmitted in real-time networks carrying digital audio-video signals, then network utilization is improved, but data delivery reliability deteriorates due to arbitrary rate fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by scheduling best-effort data transmission in advance during periods of network capacity, before real-time traffic peaks occur. The scheduler identifies available capacity windows and pre-loads non-real-time data into buffers, ensuring that when real-time traffic arrives, the network can maintain its guaranteed delivery reliability while still utilizing the pre-scheduled best-effort data transmissions.
2Productivity
If multiple cooperating sources are introduced to improve data transmission efficiency, then productivity is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the functions of multiple data sources and the scheduler into a unified architecture where multiple sources contribute data to a common scheduling mechanism. The scheduler consolidates data from multiple sources, manages their individual buffers, and coordinates their transmissions to work together as a single efficient system, reducing the complexity that would otherwise arise from managing multiple independent sources separately.
3Reliability
If scheduled transmission of best-effort data is implemented, then data delivery reliability is improved, but network flexibility deteriorates due to fixed scheduling constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The scheduling system is designed to be dynamic rather than static. The scheduler continuously monitors network conditions, real-time traffic patterns, and buffer states, adjusting the scheduling decisions in real-time. When network conditions change or unexpected traffic patterns emerge, the scheduler can modify transmission timing, reassign bandwidth, and adapt its scheduling algorithms to maintain both reliability and flexibility simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A system is provided for controlling the transmission of best-effort filed data or programs on channels from one of plural controllers to one or more client nodes. A program is a group of files and has program information indicating to a client node how to use the files of the program. A channel is a virtual path, wherein a client node can receive program files from different channels in a separable fashion. Channels also have channel information. Multiple controllers are provided which self configure in rank order to control the scheduled transmission of programs files on channels. Client nodes receive announcements of programs and channels from the controllers and selectively subscribe to the channels and programs. Client nodes can be instructed to positively acknowledge receipt of programs and also send back negative acknowledgements for ranges of data words in program files not received. The negative acknowledgements can be consolidated to reduce the number of packets on the network. The format of packets carrying program files and acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement messages are specified.