Distributed Resource Management for Media Gateways
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional video conferencing systems face challenges in efficiently managing resources across multiple local media gateways to minimize network power consumption, latency, and maximize bandwidth, leading to suboptimal performance in multiparty conferencing.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for distributed resource management that aggregates gateway resources such as processors, Codecs, and interfaces across media gateways, organizing them into a tree-like hierarchy based on resource management metrics to establish efficient distributed connection sessions, dynamically activating and de-activating media gateways as needed to optimize network performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If conventional video conferencing systems manage resources across multiple local media gateways, then basic conferencing functionality is provided, but network power consumption is high, latency is increased, and bandwidth is not optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the media gateway functionality by separating control plane functions (resource management, session control) from user plane functions (media processing). Multiple local media gateways are divided into independent units that can be dynamically activated or deactivated based on conferencing needs, allowing the system to consume only the necessary amount of power for each specific conferencing scenario.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic resource allocation where media gateways can be activated or deactivated based on real-time conferencing requirements. The system dynamically adjusts which gateways participate in each conferencing session, optimizing power consumption by keeping only necessary gateways active while maintaining the ability to scale resources up or down as needed for conferencing efficiency.
2Reliability
If distributed connection sessions are established across multiple media gateways, then multiparty conferencing capability is provided, but end-to-end latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by allowing each media gateway to independently manage its local conferencing resources and make local decisions about session establishment. This local autonomy reduces the need for centralized coordination overhead, thereby reducing end-to-end latency while maintaining reliable multiparty conferencing capability through distributed session management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a session manager as an intermediary that coordinates resource allocation across distributed media gateways without requiring direct peer-to-peer negotiation between all participants. This intermediary optimizes session establishment by pre-allocating resources and managing connection paths, reducing the time required to set up multiparty conferencing sessions while maintaining system reliability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If gateway resources are aggregated across media gateways, then resource utilization is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements universality by designing media gateways with standardized, multi-functional resource interfaces that can serve multiple conferencing scenarios. The same gateway resources (codecs, processors, network interfaces) can be dynamically allocated to different conferencing sessions with varying requirements, improving resource utilization without requiring separate specialized hardware for each function, thus avoiding excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by dynamically adjusting resource allocation parameters (such as codec selection, bandwidth allocation, processing priority) based on conferencing requirements rather than changing the physical device configuration. This allows flexible resource utilization across different scenarios while maintaining relatively simple device architectures, as the complexity is managed through software-controlled parameter adjustment rather than hardware reconfiguration.
Data Source
AI summary
Media gateways (MGs), grouped into a hierarchy, are operable to provide a multiparty conferencing among client devices. Gateway resources such as processors, Codecs and network interfaces are aggregated at each MG to establish distributed connection sessions based on resource management metrics such as minimizing total network. The distributed connection sessions are utilized to provide the multiparty conferencing. Each MG may aggregate the gateway resources, which may be determined utilizing a look-up table, from other MGs for sharing among the MGs. Each MG may be activated to provide the media gateway controller (MGC) processing utilizing the shared aggregated gateway resources. A MG may be de-activated from the MGC processing when needed and the associated connection sessions may be subsequently released. Gateway resources are managed at each MG based on the resource management metrics in order to establish distributed connection sessions to support the multiparty conferencing among the client devices.