Service Delivery Apparatus Caching in Asymmetrical Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Service providers face challenges in managing and controlling the delivery of heavy bandwidth-consuming data, leading to network performance degradation and potential failures, as existing solutions struggle to efficiently handle the increased traffic and asymmetrical routing topologies.
Innovation Solution
A service delivery apparatus (SDA) is introduced that receives content requests from user nodes, redirects them when necessary, and acquires content from content sources, storing it for efficient delivery, using deep-packet-inspection to identify and cache popular content, thereby reducing the load on the network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all data is stored in caches to handle heavy bandwidth consuming content, then network performance is improved, but the complexity of inspecting every packet regardless of source becomes impractical
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and identifies only the necessary information from packets (source address, destination address, content identification) rather than inspecting the entire packet content. This selective extraction approach maintains network performance improvement through caching while reducing the complexity of packet inspection by focusing only on key identifying fields.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary classification and identification of content sources before caching decisions are made. By pre-identifying popular content sources and their characteristics, the system prepares caching strategies in advance, avoiding the need for complex real-time inspection of every packet while maintaining effective caching performance.
2Reliability
If deep-packet-inspection is used to manage traffic and shape QoS, then quality of service is improved, but the processing load increases significantly with heavy bandwidth consuming data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only essential packet header information (source address, destination address, content ID) rather than performing deep inspection of entire packets. This selective extraction maintains QoS management capabilities while dramatically reducing processing load and energy consumption by avoiding unnecessary inspection of packet payloads.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial packet inspection by examining only the necessary fields required for content identification and routing decisions. This partial action approach provides sufficient information for QoS management and caching decisions without the excessive processing burden of inspecting every byte of every packet.
3Quantity of substance
If content is cached at the service delivery apparatus in an asymmetrical routing topology, then bandwidth requirements are reduced, but the downstream data link may be inaccessible to the SDA
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a content identification mechanism that acts as an intermediary between the SDA and the content sources. By using content IDs and redirection instructions, the system enables the SDA to access and cache content from inaccessible downstream links through alternative upstream paths, effectively bridging the asymmetrical routing limitation while reducing bandwidth requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the SDA directly accessing downstream content sources, the system inverts the approach by having content sources or intermediate nodes redirect content delivery through the SDA via upstream links. This inversion allows caching functionality to work around the asymmetrical routing constraint where downstream access is limited.
Data Source
AI summary
A computerized method of delivering popular content of a service delivery apparatus (SDA) in an asymmetrical network topology. The method comprises receiving a first acquisition request for content from a user node (UN) over an upstream data link, the request comprising at least a content identification (CID). An instruction is sent to the UN to redirect content requests to the SDA. A second acquisition request is sent from the SDA to a content source (CS) for the content requested by the first acquisition request, upon determination that the downstream data link between the UN and the CS is inaccessible to the SDA, the request including at least the CID. The content is received by the SDA from the CS. The received content from the SDA is sent to the UN.