Low-Latency Upstream Scheduler for Cable Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current upstream transmission scheduling in cable networks is complex and costly, leading to higher latency for devices with small data transmissions, which negatively affects their service quality.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a low-latency upstream scheduler that reserves one or more dedicated channels for short packet transmissions, allowing devices with short packets to experience reduced latency while maintaining average latency comparable to sophisticated schedulers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single CM is scheduled at a time for transmission on all US channels, then device complexity is reduced and cost is lowered, but latency increases for CMs with small data transmissions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the US channels into two distinct groups: regular US channels for general transmissions and low-latency US channels specifically for short packet transmissions. This segmentation allows the system to maintain simple scheduling on regular channels while providing dedicated fast paths for time-sensitive traffic, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and latency performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating specialized low-latency channels with different scheduling characteristics than regular channels. Instead of making all channels uniformly simple or uniformly complex, the system tailors the scheduling approach locally - using simple scheduling for most traffic while providing enhanced service quality specifically for short packet transmissions on dedicated channels.
2Productivity
If more US channels are deployed to increase bandwidth, then throughput increases, but processing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the channel set and applies different scheduling strategies to different segments. By dividing channels into regular and low-latency groups with distinct scheduling rules, the system can scale the number of channels to increase throughput without proportionally increasing overall processing complexity, as each segment can be managed independently with optimized algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by reserving a small portion of channels (low-latency channels) for specific purposes while using the majority of channels for general traffic with simpler scheduling. This allows the system to achieve enhanced performance for critical traffic without requiring complex scheduling across all channels, thus increasing effective throughput without proportional complexity increases.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods and computer readable media for providing low-latency scheduling on upstream channels. Systems and methods can include a low-latency scheduler and a network interface. The low-latency scheduler can assign a first group of upstream channels for standard communication of packets on a network, and to assign a second group of upstream channels for communication of small upstream packets on the network. The network interface can communicate transmission opportunities identified by the low-latency scheduler to the subscriber devices. The transmission opportunities for subscriber devices are assigned such that devices with a threshold amount of traffic receive transmission opportunities in the first group of upstream channels, and subscriber devices with less than the threshold amount of traffic receive transmission opportunities in the second group of upstream channels.