Modified Reliable Transport Protocol Relay for Multimedia Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network communications behind firewalls face challenges in establishing direct paths due to blocked protocols and NAT issues, leading to unreliable data transfer and increased latency, particularly for real-time multimedia applications.
Innovation Solution
A modified reliable transport protocol is introduced, compatible with TCP, which modifies reliability mechanisms such as sequencing, acknowledgement, and retransmission to allow for efficient data relaying using UDP or RTP over UDP, enabling protocol translation and improving communication quality for multimedia applications by bypassing the need for direct paths and handling out-of-sequence packets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a reliable transport protocol (TCP) is used for data communication behind firewalls, then data transfer reliability is improved, but latency increases and real-time multimedia performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic protocol selection and modification by introducing a modified reliable transport protocol that adapts its behavior based on network conditions and application requirements. The relay server dynamically adjusts packet handling, sequencing, and acknowledgment mechanisms to balance reliability and latency for real-time multimedia applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies key parameters of the reliable transport protocol including sequencing intervals, acknowledgment timing, and retransmission thresholds. By changing these parameters, the system achieves both reliability and reduced latency for multimedia traffic while maintaining compatibility with standard TCP implementations.
2Productivity
If direct communication paths are established between network components, then communication efficiency is improved, but firewall compatibility and NAT traversal capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a relay server as an intermediary component that mediates communication between network components behind firewalls and NAT devices. The relay server receives packets from one endpoint, processes and resequences them, and forwards to the destination, enabling communication through restrictive network architectures while maintaining efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the communication path into multiple hops through the relay server, breaking down the complex problem of direct path establishment into manageable segments. Each segment handles specific functions such as packet reception, sequencing, and forwarding, improving overall adaptability to different network configurations.
3Reliability
If standard reliable transport protocol mechanisms are used, then packet delivery reliability is improved, but processing overhead and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates the reliability mechanisms from the core data transmission function. The relay server handles sequencing, acknowledgment, and retransmission logic independently, allowing the underlying transport protocol to remain simple while achieving reliable delivery through the relay layer.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for relaying data based on a modified reliable transport protocol is provided. According to an aspect, a relay can receive a data packet sent in accordance with a reliable transport protocol. The relay processes the received packet in accordance with modified reliable protocol and relays the received packet. The modifications can be based on alterations to reliability mechanisms which improve communication characteristics of the protocol for real time communications and other time sensitive communications. The modified protocol is nevertheless compatible with the original reliable protocol so that relay can communicate, using the modified protocol with any network component using the unmodified protocol.