Systems and methods for multicast admission control
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for multicast admission control are provided. In one embodiment, a node comprises: a first interface configured to receive a multicast channel access request, from a subscriber interface, including an address for a channel; a memory including a subscriber profile and VLAN configuration data for the network; a processor that identifies a first VLAN corresponding to the address from the VLAN configuration data and determines whether the subscriber is authorized to receive the channel via the first VLAN based on access policy designated by the subscriber profile; wherein the processor further determines whether granting access to the channel violates admission control policy based on predefined bandwidth requirements and/or a stream count limit for the first VLAN; wherein when the subscriber interface is authorized to receive the channel and when granting access to the channel does not violate admission control policy, the processor routes the channel to the subscriber.
1. A node for managing admission control of multicast content on a content distribution network, the node comprising:
a first interface configured to receive a multicast channel access request from at least one subscriber interface, the multicast channel access request including a multicast address for a channel stream;
a memory including a subscriber profile for a subscriber associated with the at least one subscriber interface and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) configuration data for the content distribution network;
a processor coupled to the first interface and the memory;
wherein the processor identifies a first VLAN corresponding to the multicast address from the VLAN configuration data and determines whether the at least one subscriber interface is authorized to receive the channel stream via the first VLAN based on an access policy designated by the subscriber profile;
wherein the processor further determines whether granting access to the channel stream violates an admission control policy based on one or both of a predefined bandwidth requirement for the first VLAN and a stream count limit for the first VLAN;
wherein when the at least one subscriber interface is authorized to receive the channel stream via the first VLAN and when granting access to the channel stream does not violate the admission control policy, the processor routes the channel stream to the at least one subscriber interface.
2. The node of claim 1 , wherein the node comprises an access node coupled by a single hop connection to the at least one subscriber interface via the first interface.
3. The node of claim 1 , wherein the VLAN configuration data segregates multicast addresses for channel streams providing a first content type into the first VLAN, multicast addresses for channel streams providing a second content type into a second VLAN, and multicast addresses for channel streams providing a third content type content into a third VLAN.
4. The node of claim 3 , wherein the VLAN configuration data segregates multicast addresses for one or more channel streams providing a high definition content into the first VLAN, and multicast addresses for one or more channel streams providing a standard definition content into the second VLAN.
5. The node of claim 1 , wherein the at least one subscriber interface is not authorized to receive the channel stream via the first VLAN when the access policy does not designate the first VLAN as an authorized VLAN.
6. The node of claim 1 , wherein the access policy further comprises a filter that limits access to only a subset of content available via the first VLAN.
7. The node of claim 1 , wherein the at least one subscriber interface is authorized to receive the channel stream via the first VLAN when the access policy designates the first VLAN as an authorized VLAN.
8. The node of claim 1 , wherein the admission control policy is violated when adding the predefined bandwidth requirement for the first VLAN to a current aggregate bandwidth usage would exceed a total bandwidth capacity limit defined by the admission control policy.
9. The node of claim 1 wherein the admission control policy is violated when granting access to the channel stream would cause a stream count of channel streams received via the first VLAN to exceed the stream count limit for the first VLAN, wherein the stream count limit for the first VLAN is defined by the admission control policy.
10. The node of claim 1 , wherein when either the at least one subscriber interface is not authorized to receive the channel stream, or granting access to the channel stream would violate the admission control policy, the processor routes an error stream to the at least one subscriber interface in place of the channel stream.
11. A method for managing admission control of multicast content on a content distribution network, the method comprising:
receiving a request for a channel stream from a subscriber interface;
identifying a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) that includes the channel stream based on VLAN configuration data for the content distribution network;
determining when access to the channel stream is authorized over the VLAN based on an access policy designated by a subscriber profile;
determining whether granting access to the channel stream violates an admission control policy based on one or both of a predefined bandwidth requirement for the VLAN and a stream count limit for the VLAN;
when access to the channel stream is authorized over the VLAN and when granting access to the channel stream does not violate the admission control policy, routing the channel stream from an upstream network device to the at least one subscriber interface; and
when either access to the channel stream is authorized over the VLAN is not authorized, or granting access to the channel stream violates the admission control policy, routing an error stream to the at least one subscriber interface in place of the channel stream.
12. The method of claim 11 , where receiving a request for the channel stream from a subscriber interface further comprises receiving a IGMP protocol Join request that includes a network address for the channel stream.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein identifying a VLAN that includes the channel stream based on VLAN configuration data for the content distribution network comprises:
accessing a table of access policy data to determine if a policy permits access to the VLAN.
14. he method of claim 11 , wherein the admission control policy is violated when adding the predefined bandwidth requirement for the VLAN to a current aggregate bandwidth usage would exceed a total bandwidth capacity limit defined by the admission control policy.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the admission control policy is violated when granting access to the channel stream would cause a stream count of channel streams received via the VLAN to exceed the stream count limit for the VLAN, wherein the stream count limit for the VLAN is defined by the admission control policy.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method is performed at an access node coupled by a single hop connection to the subscriber interface.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the VLAN configuration data segregates multicast addresses for channel streams providing a first content type into the first VLAN, multicast addresses for channel streams providing a second content type into a second VLAN, and multicast addresses for channel streams providing a third content type content into a third VLAN.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the access policy further comprises a filter that limits access to only a subset of content available via the VLAN.
19. A node for managing admission control of multicast content on a content distribution network, the node comprising:
a first interface configured to receive a multicast channel access request from at least one subscriber interface, the multicast channel access request including a multicast address for a channel stream;
a memory including a subscriber profile for a subscriber associated with the at least one subscriber interface and Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) configuration data for the content distribution network;
a processor coupled to the first interface and the memory, the processor configured to execute computer executable instructions for a method for managing admission control, the method comprising:
receiving the multicast channel access request from the first interface;
identifying a VLAN that includes the multicast address based on the VLAN configuration data;
determining when access to the channel stream is authorized over the VLAN based on an access policy designated by the subscriber profile;
determining whether granting access to the channel stream violates an admission control policy based on one or both of a predefined bandwidth requirement for the VLAN and a stream count limit for the VLAN;
when access to the channel stream is authorized over the VLAN and when granting access to the channel stream does not violate the admission control policy, routing the channel stream from an upstream network device to the at least one subscriber interface; and
when either access to the channel stream is authorized over the VLAN is not authorized, or granting access to the channel stream violates the admission control policy, routing an error stream to the at least one subscriber interface in place of the channel stream.
20. The node of claim 19 , wherein the admission control policy is violated when adding the predefined bandwidth requirement for the VLAN to a current aggregate bandwidth usage would exceed a total bandwidth capacity limit defined by the admission control policy; and
wherein the admission control policy is violated when granting access to the channel stream would cause a stream count of channel streams received via the VLAN to exceed the stream count limit for the VLAN, wherein the stream count limit for the VLAN is defined by the admission control policy.