Cable modem control method giving priority to packets from the cable head end over packets from the subscriber LAN

摘要

An information-supply control apparatus and method uses a cable modem. The cable modem has one I/O connector attached to a coaxial cable coupling the cable modem with the cable system's head end. Another I/O connector is attached to a subscriber's local area network (LAN). The cable modem prioritizes its processing of packets as follows. Packets received from the cable system head end that are addressed to devices on the subscriber LAN are given the highest priority. Packets received from the cable system head end that are addressed to the cable modem itself are given the second highest priority. Packets received from the subscriber LAN that are to be transferred to the coaxial cable are given the third highest priority. Finally, packets that are received from the subscriber LAN that are to be transferred back to the subscriber LAN are given the fourth highest priority. The cable modem also determines whether a received packet has overflowed its allocated buffer. Upon detecting buffer overflow, the cable modem discards the overflow data.