Cross layer coordinated channel bonding
View Patent ↗Different data communication architectures receive a wide variety of content, including audio and video content, for consumers. The architectures employ channel bonding to deliver more bandwidth than any single communication channel can carry. In some implementations, the communication architectures receive distributed video programming in the form of MPEG2 TS packets, flagged by marker packets. Channel bonding synchronization information may be present in packets defined above the data-link layer or received in fields within data-link layer frames.
1. A system, comprising:
a first interface configured to receive, from a channel in a bonded channel group:
bonding information for the bonded channel group, the bonding information encapsulated at a first layer of a communication protocol stack; and
program data in a payload encapsulated at a second layer of the communication protocol stack that is different than the first layer;
a collator coupled to the first interface, the collator configured to:
extract the bonding information from the encapsulation at the first layer; and
generate a packetized stream at the second layer, the packetized stream including the bonding information and the program data.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first layer comprises a data-link layer of the communication protocol stack.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second layer comprises a transport layer of the communication protocol stack.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the first layer comprises a layer below the transport layer in the protocol stack.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bonding information is present in a field defined for a purpose other than channel bonding.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bonding information comprises configuration information sent from the first layer at a program source to the second layer at a destination.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bonding information is encapsulated in a header of the first layer.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the collator is further configured to align a packet of the packetized stream based on the bonding information.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the collator is configured to align the packet by padding, truncating, or both.
10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising processing logic configured to process the program data in the packetized stream for distribution to a display device.
11. A method, comprising:
receiving first frames defined at a first layer of a communication protocol stack, the first frames comprising channel bonding information for a bonded channel group;
receiving second frames defined at a second layer in the communication protocol stack, the second frames comprising program data for a program communicated via the bonded channel group;
extracting the bonding information from the first frames; and
constructing a stream framed at the second layer, the stream comprising the bonding information and the program data.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the first frames defined at a first layer in the communication protocol stack comprises:
receiving frames defined at a physical layer of the communication protocol stack.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the first frames for a first layer in the communication protocol stack, comprises receiving frames defined below a transport layer of the communication protocol stack.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein extracting the bonding information from the first frames comprises extracting the bonding information from a header of the first layer.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the first frames for a first layer in a communication protocol stack comprises receiving configuration information sent from the first layer at a program source to the second layer at a destination.
16. A product, comprising:
a computer-readable medium other than a transitory signal; and
instructions stored on the medium, the instructions configured to, when executed:
receive channel bonding information for a bonded channel group, the channel bonding information provided at a first layer of a communication protocol stack;
receive program data for a program sent over the bonded channel group, the program data framed at a second layer of the communication protocol stack;
extract the channel bonding information from the first layer; and
construct a packet stream framed at the second layer, the packet stream including the channel bonding information and the program data.
17. The product of claim 16 , wherein the first layer comprises a data-link layer of the communication protocol stack.
18. The product of claim 16 , wherein the bonding information is provided in a field defined in the first layer, the field defined for a purpose other than channel bonding.
19. The product of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are configured to, when executed, align a packet in the packet stream by padding, truncating, or both.
20. The product of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are configured to, when executed, extract the channel bonding information from a header of the first layer.