Method and apparatus for providing open loop bandwidth allocation
View Patent ↗An approach for allocating bandwidth is disclosed. A request is detected from a terminal for capacity on a communication channel based on type of traffic transmitted from the terminal. A bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the terminal is retrieved, wherein the bandwidth allocation pattern is set based on a predetermined service plan associated with the terminal. Bandwidth over the communication channel is reserved for the terminal according to the bandwidth allocation pattern without feedback to the terminal. This arrangement has particular applicability to a satellite network that provides data communication services.
1. A method comprising:
detecting an advertised load from a terminal when the terminal becomes active, the advertised load being an initial advertised load of an active session, wherein the initial advertised load is a backlog of traffic;
retrieving a bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the terminal, wherein the bandwidth allocation pattern is set based on a predetermined service plan associated with the terminal; and
reserving bandwidth, over a communication return channel, for the terminal, which has an inroute quality of service identifier securely loaded onto the terminal such that the bandwidth is allocated without requiring knowledge of the identity of users that are capable of using the bandwidth, according to the bandwidth allocation pattern without feedback to the terminal in response to detecting the initial advertised load of the active session, wherein the bandwidth is reserved in an open loop environment which does not use feedback to reserve bandwidth during the active session.
2. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a second advertised load from a second terminal;
retrieving a second bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the second terminal;
selecting one of a plurality of aggregate bandwidth allocation patterns that are based on a first bandwidth allocation pattern and the second bandwidth allocation pattern; and
reserving bandwidth, over the communication return channel, for the second terminal according to the second bandwidth allocation pattern having a starting point determined by the selected aggregate bandwidth allocation pattern.
3. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the selecting step is based on uniformity of the selected aggregate bandwidth allocation pattern.
4. A method according to claim 2 , wherein a traffic type is interactive traffic.
5. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the terminals have similar quality of service level plans requiring transmission at a common data rate.
6. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the second terminal has another predetermined service plan different from the predetermined service plan.
7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the communication return channel is established over a satellite.
8. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the communication return channel is a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) stream.
9. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined service plan specifies an allocation size that can be allocated to the terminal, and frame parameters indicating frequency of bandwidth allocation.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions executable by a processor to perform:
detecting an advertised load from a terminal when the terminal becomes active, the advertised load being an initial advertised load of an active session, wherein the initial advertised load is a backlog of traffic;
retrieving a bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the terminal, wherein the bandwidth allocation pattern is set based on a predetermined service plan associated with the terminal; and
reserving bandwidth, over a communication return channel, for the terminal, which has an inroute quality of service identifier securely loaded onto the terminal such that the bandwidth is allocated without requiring knowledge of the identity of users that are capable of using the bandwidth, according to the bandwidth allocation pattern without feedback to the terminal in response to detecting the initial advertised load of the active session, wherein the bandwidth is reserved in an open loop environment which does not use feedback to reserve bandwidth during the active session.
11. An apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to detect an advertised load from a terminal when the terminal becomes active, the advertised load being an initial advertised load of an active session, wherein the initial advertised load is a backlog of traffic; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured to store a bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the terminal, wherein the bandwidth allocation pattern is set based on a predetermined service plan associated with the terminal, and the bandwidth, over a communication return channel, is reserved for the terminal, which has an inroute quality of service identifier securely loaded onto the terminal such that the bandwidth is allocated without requiring knowledge of the identity of users that are capable of using the bandwidth, according to the bandwidth allocation pattern without feedback to the terminal in response to detecting the initial advertised load of the active session, wherein the bandwidth is reserved in an open loop environment which does not use feedback to reserve bandwidth during the active session.
12. An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the steps of:
detecting a second advertised load from a second terminal;
retrieving a second bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the second terminal;
selecting one of a plurality of aggregate bandwidth allocation patterns that are based on a first bandwidth allocation pattern and the second bandwidth allocation pattern; and
reserving bandwidth, over the communication return channel, for the second terminal according to the second bandwidth allocation pattern having a starting point determined by the selected aggregate bandwidth allocation pattern.
13. An apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the selecting step is based on uniformity of the selected aggregate bandwidth allocation pattern.
14. An apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein a traffic type is interactive traffic.
15. An apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the terminals have similar quality of service level plans requiring transmission at a common data rate.
16. An apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the second terminal has another predetermined service plan different from the predetermined service plan.
17. An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the communication return channel is established over a satellite.
18. An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the communication return channel is a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) stream.
19. An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the predetermined service plan specifies an allocation size that can be allocated to the terminal, and frame parameters indicating frequency of bandwidth allocation.
20. A method comprising:
identifying an advertised load from a first terminal when the first terminal becomes active, the advertised load being an initial advertised load of an active session;
determining that the first terminal requires bandwidth allocation for traffic based on the initial advertised load of the active session;
allocating bandwidth, over one or more communication return channels, to the first terminal, which has an inroute quality of service identifier securely loaded onto the terminal such that the bandwidth is allocated without requiring knowledge of the identity of users that are capable of using the bandwidth, according to a first bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the first terminal without feedback to the first terminal based on the determination that the first terminal requires bandwidth allocation for interactive traffic, wherein the bandwidth is reserved in an open loop environment which does not use feedback to reserve bandwidth;
detecting a second terminal requiring bandwidth allocation for interactive traffic, wherein the second terminal has a second bandwidth allocation pattern designated for the second terminal; and
allocating bandwidth, over the one or more communication return channels, according to the second bandwidth allocation pattern, wherein the second bandwidth allocation pattern is selectively offset according to an aggregate bandwidth allocation pattern generated from the first bandwidth allocation pattern and the second bandwidth allocation pattern during the active session.