Dynamic VoIP Proxy for WAN Bandwidth Optimization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In virtual meetings over Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), the wasteful consumption of Wide Area Network (WAN) bandwidth occurs due to multiple identical copies of downstream traffic being streamed from the VoIP server to client devices, leading to inefficiency and high costs as the number of client devices increases.
Innovation Solution
A network manager dynamically associates client devices with network devices, creating a proxy agent on these devices to receive and replicate downstream VoIP traffic, thereby reducing WAN bandwidth consumption by sending a single copy of the traffic from the VoIP server to the network device, which then transmits it to the client devices over the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple identical copies of downstream VoIP traffic are streamed from the VoIP server to each client device over WAN, then each client device receives its required voice communication data, but WAN bandwidth consumption increases wastefully as the number of client devices increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a proxy server as an intermediary component between the VoIP server and client devices. The proxy server receives a single copy of downstream VoIP traffic from the VoIP server and replicates it to multiple client devices. This intermediary architecture allows the system to maintain reliable data delivery to all clients while significantly reducing WAN bandwidth consumption, as the expensive WAN link carries only one copy of the traffic instead of multiple copies to each client.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a selective copying strategy where the proxy server creates local copies of VoIP traffic for distribution to client devices over the LAN/WLAN network. Instead of copying traffic over the expensive WAN link to each client, the system copies the traffic once at the proxy server and distributes the copies over the cheaper local network infrastructure, thereby optimizing bandwidth utilization.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of client devices participating in virtual meetings increases, then more users can access the VoIP service, but WAN bandwidth consumption and costs increase due to redundant traffic transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy server acts as a scalable intermediary that enables the system to support an increasing number of client devices without proportionally increasing WAN bandwidth consumption. As more clients join the network, the proxy server handles the replication and distribution locally, allowing the system to scale adaptably while maintaining efficient WAN utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the network traffic handling into two distinct parts: WAN traffic management (receiving single copy from VoIP server) and LAN/WLAN traffic distribution (replicating to multiple clients). This segmentation allows the system to scale to support more client devices by leveraging the local network infrastructure for distribution, thereby preventing proportional increases in WAN bandwidth consumption as the client base grows.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples include receiving, from a VoIP server, identification information of the virtual meeting and information of a plurality of client devices participating in the virtual meeting, associating each client device of the plurality of client devices to a network device in a set of network devices based on the identification information of the virtual meeting and capabilities of the set of network devices, and creating a proxy agent in each network device in the set. The proxy agent is configured to receive, from the VoIP server, VoIP streaming data of the virtual meeting. Additionally, examples include, configuring the proxy agent to replicate and transmit the VoIP streaming data to the plurality of client devices.