Systems and methods for prioritization of data for intelligent discard in a communication network

摘要

Systems and methods for optimizing system performance of capacity and spectrum constrained, multiple-access communication systems by selectively discarding packets are provided. The systems and methods provided herein can drive changes in the communication system using control responses. One such control responses includes the optimal discard (also referred to herein as “intelligent discard”) of network packets under capacity constrained conditions. The systems and methods prioritize packets and make discard decisions based upon the prioritization. Some embodiments provide an interactive response by selectively discarding packets to enhance perceived and actual system throughput, other embodiments provide a reactive response by selectively discarding data packets based on their relative impact to service quality to mitigate oversubscription, others provide a proactive response by discarding packets based on predicted oversubscription, and others provide a combination thereof.

主权项

1. A network device for packet management in a communication network having a plurality of subscriber stations and supporting a plurality of communication services that have different bandwidth and latency requirements, the network device comprising:
a memory for storing computer-executable instructions; and a processor in communication with the memory and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the steps of:
prioritizing, for each of a plurality of currently operating communication services, a plurality of packets associated with that communication service into a plurality of discard priority levels, the prioritization being based on an estimated quality degradation level for the associated one of the plurality of currently operating communication services that would result from a discard of the packet, each prioritized packet being assigned into one of at least one scheduler queue; andscheduling the prioritized plurality of packets by
determining whether a required physical transmission resource value for supporting all of the plurality of currently operating communication services in their current operating states is greater than a total physical transmission resources value,selecting, in the event that the required physical transmission resource value for supporting all currently operating communication services in their current operating states is greater than the total physical transmission resources value, all packets prioritized to a selected one of the plurality of discard priority levels and associated with one or more of the plurality of currently operating communication services, wherein the selection is conducted such that an estimated quality degradation level for each of the one or more of the plurality of currently operating communication services resulting from a discard of the selected packets does not exceed a maximum quality degradation threshold, anddiscarding the selected packets prior to a time for their transmission to one or more of the plurality of subscriber stations.