MoCA frame bundling and frame bursting

1. A method for aggregating Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) Medium Access Control (MAC) frames, the method comprising:

estimating by an aggregation module an amount of user traffic that is expected to be received within a certain period of time;

calculating by the by an aggregation module a required bandwidth;

sending, by an aggregation module's PHY interface, a Multiframe Reservation Request (MRR), requesting a transmission timeslot matching the bandwidth calculation, in response to the expected rate of received user traffic;

receiving, by an aggregation module's PHY interface, a grant in response to the MRR;

accepting, by an aggregation module's MAC interface, a plurality of MoCA MAC frames;

assembling by an aggregation module the plurality of MoCA MAC frames in a physical layer (PHY) burst packet; and

transmitting by a PHY transmitter the PHY burst packet in the granted time slot.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein accepting the plurality of MoCA MAC frames includes accepting the plurality of MoCA MAC frames addressed to a first node; the method further comprising:

determining that the first node is capable of handing the PHY burst packet; and

wherein transmitting the PHY burst packet includes transmitting the PHY burst packet to the first node.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein accepting the plurality of MoCA MAC frames includes accepting the plurality of MoCA MAC frames addressed to a first plurality of nodes;

the method further comprising:

determining that each node in the first plurality of nodes is capable of handling the PHY burst packet; and

wherein transmitting the PHY burst packet includes broadcasting the PHY burst packet to the first plurality of nodes.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

ranking the accepted MoCA MAC frames in accordance to a priority; and

wherein assembling the MoCA MAC frames in the PHY burst packet includes assembling MoCA MAC frames in response to the priority ranking.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein assembling the PHY burst packet includes:

determining the existence of common fields shared between MoCA MAC frames; and

removing redundant fields from the PHY burst packet.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

upon initialization, transmitting a message advertising PHY burst packet handling capabilities;

receiving the PHY burst packet from a second node; disassembling the PHY burst packet; recovering the plurality of MoCA MAC frames; and, supplying the plurality of MoCA MAC frames.

7. A method for bundling client data packets into a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) Medium Access Control (MAC) frame, the method comprising:

estimating by a packetbundle module an amount of user traffic that is expected to be received within a certain period of time;

calculating by a packetbundle module a required bandwidth; and

sending, by a packetbundle module's PHY interface, a Bundledpacket Reservation Request (BRR), requesting a transmission time slot matching the bandwidth calculation, in response to the expected rate of received user traffic;

receiving, by a packetbundle module's PHY interface, a grant in response to the BRR;

accepting, by a packetbundle module's MAC interface, a plurality of client data packets;

concatenating by a packetbundle module the plurality of client data packets into a bundled MoCA MAC frame; and

transmitting by a PHY transmitter the bundled MoCA MAC frame in a physical layer (PHY) packet in the granted time slot.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein accepting the plurality of client data packets includes accepting the plurality of client data packets destined to a first node;

the method further comprising:

determining that the first node is capable of handling the bundled MoCA MAC frame; and

wherein transmitting the PHY packet includes transmitting the PHY packet to the first node.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein accepting the plurality of client data packets includes accepting the plurality of client data packets destined to a first plurality of nodes; the method further comprising:

determining that each node in the first plurality of nodes is capable of handling bundled MoCA MAC frame; and

wherein transmitting the PHY packet includes broadcasting the PHY packet to the first plurality of nodes.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

ranking the accepted client data packets in accordance to a priority; and

wherein concatenating the plurality of client data packets into the bundled MoCA MAC frame includes concatenating the client data packets in response to the priority ranking.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein concatenating the plurality of client data packets into the bundled MoCA MAC frame includes:

determining the existence of common fields shared between the plurality of client data packets; and,

removing redundant fields from the bundled MoCA MAC frame.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

upon initialization, transmitting a message advertising bundled MoCA MAC frame handling capabilities;

receiving the PHY packet from a second node; disassembling the PHY packet;

recovering the plurality of client data packets; and

supplying the plurality of client data packets.

13. A Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) system for aggregating Medium Access Control (MAC) frames, the system comprising:

an aggregation module estimating an amount of user traffic that is expected to be received within a certain period of time and calculating a required bandwidth, the aggregation module having a physical (PHY) layer interface to supply a Multiframe Reservation Request (MRR) requesting a transmission time slot matching the bandwidth calculation, in response to the expected rate of received user traffic, and a MAC layer interface to accept a plurality of MoCA MAC frames, the aggregation module assembling the plurality of MoCA MAC frames and supplying a PHY burst packet at the PHY layer interface; and

a PHY transceiver having an aggregation layer interface to accept the MRR and the PHY burst packet, and a network interface to transmit the PHY burst packet in the transmission time slot granted in response to the MRR.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the aggregation module accepts the plurality of MoCA MAC frames addressed to a first node, and determines that the first node is capable of handling the PHY burst packet; and

wherein PHY transceiver transmits the PHY burst packet to the first node.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the aggregation module accepts the plurality of MoCA MAC frames addressed to a first plurality of nodes, and determines that each node in the first plurality of nodes is capable of handling the PHY burst packet; and

wherein the PHY transceiver broadcasts the PHY burst packet to the first plurality of nodes.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the aggregation module ranks the accepted MoCA MAC frames in accordance to a priority, and assembles MoCA MAC frames in response to the priority ranking.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein the aggregation module determines the existence of common fields shared between the plurality of MoCA MAC frames, and removes redundant fields from the PHY burst packet.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the PHY transceiver transmits a message advertising PHY burst packet handling capabilities and subsequently receives the PHY burst packet from a second node, and supplies the PHY burst packet to the aggregation module; and

wherein the/aggregation module disassembles the PHY burst packet, recovers the plurality of MoCA MAC frames, and supplies the plurality of MoCA MAC frames-via the MAC layer interface.

19. A Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) system for bundling client data packets into a Medium Access Control (MAC) frame, the system comprising:

a packetbundle module estimating an amount of user traffic that is expected to be received within a certain period of time and calculating a required bandwidth, the packetbundle module having a MAC layer interface to supply a Bundledpacket Reservation Request (BRR) requesting a transmission time slot matching the bandwidth calculation, in response to the expected rate of received user traffic, and a Convergence layer interface to accept a plurality of client data packets, the packetbundle module concatenating the plurality of client data packets, which are supplied at the MAC layer interface;

a MAC module having a packetbundle layer interface to accept the BRR and a PHY level interface to supply the BRR and a PHY packet including a bundled MoCA MAC frame; and

a PHY transceiver having a MAC layer interface to accept the BRR and PHY packet, and a network interface to supply the PHY packet in the transmission time slot granted in response to the BRR.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the packetbundle module accepts the plurality of client data packets destined to a first node, and determines that the first node is capable of handling the bundled MoCA MAC frame; and

wherein the PHY transceiver transmits the PHY packet to the first node.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the packetbundle module accepts the plurality of client data packets destined to a first plurality of nodes, and determines that each node in the first plurality of nodes is capable of handling the bundled MoCA MAC frame; and

wherein the PHY transceiver broadcasts the PHY packet to the first plurality of nodes.

22. The system of claim 19 wherein the packetbundle module ranks the accepted client data packets in accordance to a priority, and concatenates the plurality of client data packets in response to the priority ranking.

23. The system of claim 19 wherein the packetbundle module determines the existence of common fields shared between the plurality of client data packets and removes redundant fields from the bundled MoCA MAC frame.

24. The system of claim 19 , wherein the PHY transceiver transmits a message advertising bundled MoCA MAC frame capabilities upon joining the network, the PHY transceiver subsequently receiving the PHY packet from a second node, and supplying the PHY packet to the MAC module;

wherein the MAC module disassembles the PHY packet; and

wherein the packetbundle module receives the concatenated client data packets from the MAC module, recovers the plurality of client data packets, and supplies the plurality of client data packets via the convergence layer interface.