Methods, apparatus and computer readable medium for managed adaptive bit rate for bandwidth reclamation

1. A method for managing content sessions within a network, the method comprising:

maintaining content sessions over the network;

detecting a requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network, wherein detecting the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network includes proactively determining an impending bandwidth change condition within the network before occurrence of the bandwidth change condition within the network;

applying an adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique to the content sessions before the occurrence of the bandwidth change condition, the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique adjusting a data rate of data associated with each content session, according to the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network, wherein the data rate adjustment for each content session is based upon a current bit rate for the content session, available bit rates for the content session, and a policy associated with the content session, wherein the policy is based upon a service level agreement associated with a service provider customer of each content session, wherein applying the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique includes sending a first command to a server instructing the server to perform the data rate adjustment; and

applying a quality of service adjustment technique to the content sessions, the quality of service adjustment technique adjusting a bandwidth allocation assigned between a client and the server for each content session, based upon the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique, wherein applying the quality of service adjustment technique includes sending a second command to a network element between the server and the client device, the second command instructing the network element to perform the adjustment of the bandwidth allocation assigned between the client and the server.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein applying the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique to the content sessions includes monitoring bandwidth usage within the network to determine whether bandwidth available within the network conforms to the policy.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein monitoring bandwidth usage within the network to determine whether bandwidth available within the network conforms to the policy includes comparing bandwidth available within the network to a configurable value.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network further includes detecting the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network reactively according to a bandwidth change condition experienced within the network.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein applying the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique to the content sessions includes examining bandwidth usage within the network to determine a state of bandwidth availability.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein examining bandwidth usage within the network to determine the state of bandwidth availability includes analyzing content sessions within the network to determine a data rate of at least one content session that may be adjusted according to the bandwidth change condition experienced within the network.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein applying a quality of service adjustment technique to the content sessions includes adjusting bandwidth allocated to respective clients of the sessions according to the adjusted data rate of data associated with each respective content session.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein adjusting bandwidth allocated to respective clients of the sessions according to the adjusted data rate of data associated with each respective content session includes decreasing bandwidth allocated to the client to provide bandwidth for allocation to a new content session.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein adjusting bandwidth allocated to respective clients of the sessions according to the adjusted data rate of data associated with each respective content session includes increasing bandwidth allocated to the client, the bandwidth previously allocated within the network.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

monitoring a plurality of servers supporting content sessions to respective clients within the network;

detecting a failure experienced at a first server in the plurality of servers;

moving content sessions supported by the first server that experienced the failure to a second server in the plurality of servers to maintain content sessions over the network.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein moving content sessions supported by the first server that experienced the failure to a second server in the plurality of servers to maintain content sessions over the network includes determining a priority of the content sessions to be moved according to a policy.

12. A computerized device for managing content sessions within a network comprising:

a memory;

a processor;

a communications interface; and

an interconnection mechanism coupling the memory, the processor and the communications interface;

wherein the memory is encoded with a bandwidth reclamation application that when executed in a process on the processor is capable of reclaiming bandwidth in the network by performing the operations of:

maintaining content sessions over the network;

detecting a requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network, wherein the operation of detecting the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network includes the operation of proactively determining an impending bandwidth change condition within the network before occurrence of the bandwidth change condition within the network;

applying an adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique to the content sessions before the occurrence of the bandwidth change condition, the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique adjusting a data rate of data associated with each content session, according to the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network, wherein the data rate adjustment for each content session is based upon a current bit rate for the content session, available bit rates for the content session, and a policy associated with the content session, wherein the policy is based upon a service level agreement associated with a service provider customer of each content session, wherein applying the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique includes sending a first command to a server to perform the data rate adjustment; and

applying a quality of service adjustment technique to the content sessions, the quality of service adjustment technique adjusting a bandwidth allocation assigned between a client and the server for each content session, based upon the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique, wherein applying the quality of service adjustment technique includes sending a second command to a network element between the server and the client device, the second command instructing the network element to perform the adjustment of the bandwidth allocation assigned between the client and the server.

13. The computerized device of claim 12 wherein the operation of applying the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique to the content sessions includes the operation of monitoring bandwidth usage within the network to determine whether bandwidth available within the network conforms to a policy.

14. The computerized device of claim 13 wherein the operation of monitoring bandwidth usage within the network to determine whether bandwidth available within the network conforms to the policy includes the operation of comparing bandwidth available within the network to a configurable value.

15. The computerized device of claim 12 wherein the operation of detecting the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network further includes the operation of detecting the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network reactively according to a bandwidth change condition experienced within the network.

16. The computerized device of claim 15 wherein the operation of applying the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique to the content sessions includes the operation of examining bandwidth usage within the network to determine a state of bandwidth availability.

17. The computerized device of claim 16 wherein the operation of examining bandwidth usage within the network to determine the state of bandwidth availability includes the operation of analyzing content sessions within the network to determine a data rate of at least one content session that may be adjusted according to the bandwidth change condition experienced within the network.

18. The computerized device of claim 12 wherein the operation of applying a quality of service adjustment technique to the content sessions includes the operation of adjusting bandwidth allocated to respective clients of the sessions according to the adjusted data rate of data associated with each respective content session.

19. The computerized device of claim 18 wherein the operation of adjusting bandwidth allocated to respective clients of the sessions according to the adjusted data rate of data associated with each respective content session includes the operation of decreasing bandwidth allocated to the client to provide bandwidth for allocation to a new content session.

20. The computerized device of claim 18 wherein the operation of adjusting bandwidth allocated to respective clients of the sessions according to the adjusted data rate of data associated with each respective content session includes the operation of increasing bandwidth allocated to the client, the bandwidth previously allocated within the network.

21. The computerized device of claim 12 further comprising the operations of:

monitoring a plurality of servers supporting content sessions to respective clients within the network;

detecting a failure experienced at a first server in the plurality of servers;

moving content sessions supported by the first server that experienced the failure to a second server in the plurality of servers to maintain content sessions over the network.

22. The computerized device of claim 21 wherein the operation of moving content sessions supported by the first server that experienced the failure to a second server in the plurality of servers to maintain content sessions over the network includes the operation of determining a priority of the content sessions to be moved according to a policy.

23. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with computer readable code that when executed on a processor in a computerized device provides content session management within a network, the medium comprising:

instructions for maintaining content sessions over the network;

instructions for detecting a requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network, wherein detecting the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network includes proactively determining an impending bandwidth change condition within the network before occurrence of the bandwidth change condition within the network;

instructions for applying an adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique to the content sessions before the occurrence of the bandwidth change condition, the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique adjusting a data rate of data associated with each content session, according to the requirement to modify bandwidth usage within the network, wherein the data rate adjustment for each content session is based upon a current bit rate for the content session, available bit rates for the content session, and a policy associated with the content session, wherein the policy is based upon a service level agreement associated with a service provider customer of each content session, wherein applying the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique includes sending a first command to a server to perform the data rate adjustment; and

instructions for applying a quality of service adjustment technique to the content sessions, the quality of service adjustment technique adjusting a bandwidth allocation assigned between a client and the server for each content session, based upon the adaptive bandwidth adjustment technique, wherein applying the quality of service adjustment technique includes sending a second command to a network element between the server and the client device, the second command instructing the network element to perform the adjustment of the bandwidth allocation assigned between the client and the server.