Clock-Synchronized Edge Network Functions for Congestion Buffering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Modern internet infrastructure faces inefficiencies in network traffic management due to acknowledgments contributing to further congestion and limitations in handling transient congestion scenarios, leading to packet delays and drops, especially in multi-sender to single-receiver scenarios.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a 'netcam' system that monitors network traffic between clock-synchronized sender and receiver hosts, buffers packets, and re-transmits them with jitter to manage congestion and prioritize data flows, eliminating the need for acknowledgment packets and enabling forensic analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If acknowledgment packets are transmitted to ensure reliable delivery, then packet transmission reliability is improved, but network congestion worsens due to additional traffic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the acknowledgment function from the traditional TCP protocol stack and implements it as a separate, optional feature. By using out-of-band communication channels and selective acknowledgment mechanisms, the system provides reliability only when needed, rather than universally for all packets, thereby reducing overall acknowledgment traffic while maintaining essential reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of acknowledgment transmission by implementing delayed acknowledgments, selective acknowledgment (ACKing only missing packets), and conditional acknowledgment based on congestion indicators. This transforms the traditional frequent, unconditional acknowledgment pattern into a more efficient pattern that reduces traffic volume while maintaining reliability.
2Reliability
If packets are re-transmitted ad-hoc when acknowledgments are not received, then packet delivery reliability is improved, but packet delay worsens due to repeated congestion encounters
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary actions by pre-buffering packets at intermediate network nodes before actual transmission. When congestion is detected or predicted, these buffered packets can be held and re-transmitted more efficiently later, avoiding the need for immediate ad-hoc re-transmission that would likely encounter the same congestion conditions again.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where network nodes monitor transmission success and congestion conditions, then use this information to adjust re-transmission timing and routing decisions. This feedback loop prevents blind ad-hoc re-transmissions and enables smarter, more timely re-transmission strategies that reduce delays.
3Adaptability or versatility
If traditional acknowledgment mechanisms are used, then single-sender to single-receiver scenarios are handled adequately, but multi-sender to single-receiver scenarios suffer from inefficiency and inability to handle transient congestion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal acknowledgment mechanism that can handle multiple senders simultaneously. The receiver can send consolidated acknowledgments that cover packets from multiple senders, and the system supports various acknowledgment patterns (selective, delayed, grouped) that work across different scenario types, making the protocol versatile for both single-sender and multi-sender cases.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the acknowledgment function into modular components that can be selectively applied. Different acknowledgment strategies can be used for different packet groups or different sender-receiver pairs within the same network, allowing efficient handling of multi-sender scenarios while maintaining compatibility with traditional single-sender operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Network traffic is monitored to coordinate control of data flows and detect anomalies. For a data flow transmitted between sender and receiver hosts, pre-defined amounts of sent and received network traffic of the data flow is recorded. The data flow is monitored, based on time stamps of data packets in the network traffic, for an anomaly. Responsive to determining that no anomaly is detected, the recorded sent and received network traffic is overwritten with newly sent and newly received network traffic, respectively. Responsive to determining that an anomaly is detected, the data flow is paused, which causes the sender host to store the recorded sent network traffic to a first buffer and causes the receiver host the store the recorded received network traffic to a second buffer.