IP Library Granted Patent US 10,771,872
Granted Patent B2
US 10,771,872 · App. 16/653,731 · Granted Sep 8, 2020

Traffic management with limited-buffer switches

Inventor: Edward W. Boyd (Petaluma, CA)
Assignee: Tibit Communications, Inc.
H04Q11/0066H04L12/4645H04L47/22H04L47/32H04Q11/0067H04Q2011/0084H04Q2213/13522
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,771,872
App. No.
16/653,731
Granted
Sep 8, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

One embodiment provides a system and method for managing traffic in a network that includes at least a passive optical network (PON). During operation, the system obtains traffic status associated with the PON, generates a traffic-shaping factor for the PON based on the traffic status, and applies traffic shaping for each optical network unit (ONU) within the PON using the generated traffic-shaping factor. The traffic-shaping factor determines a portion of a best-effort data rate to be provided to each ONU.

Claims (27)

1. A computer-executable method for managing traffic in a network comprising at least a passive optical network (PON), comprising: obtaining traffic status associated with the PON, wherein the traffic status comprises one or more of: bandwidth utilization and a packet-dropping rate; generating a traffic-shaping factor for the PON based on the traffic status; and applying traffic shaping for each optical network unit (ONU) within the PON using the generated traffic-shaping factor, wherein the traffic-shaping factor determines a portion of a best-effort data rate to be provided to each ONU, and wherein generating the traffic-shaping factor comprises:

in response to determining that the bandwidth utilization or the packet-dropping rate exceeds a predetermined threshold, reducing the traffic-shaping factor to reduce the portion of the best-effort data rate to be provided to each ONU.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the traffic shaping is applied by a service-provider bridge to reduce a transmission rate of packets destined to the PON.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the traffic shaping is applied by a respective ONU to reduce a request rate of packets destined to the ONU.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the traffic-shaping factor comprises: in response to determining that the bandwidth utilization or the packet-dropping rate is below a second predetermined threshold, increasing the traffic-shaping factor to increase the portion of the best-effort data rate to be provided to each ONU.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a packet destined to a first ONU; in response to determining that an amount of bandwidth used by the first ONU exceeds a guaranteed data rate provided to the first ONU, marking the packet as eligible for dropping.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising: in response to determining that congestion occurs at the PON, dropping a packet destined to the PON marked as eligible for dropping.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein marking the packet as eligible for dropping comprises setting a predetermined bit in a service virtual local-area network (VLAN) tag.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the traffic-shaping factor is generated by one of:

a network functions virtualization (NFV) switch;

an optical line terminal (OLT) associated with the PON; and

an access switch coupled to the PON.

9. An apparatus for managing traffic in a network comprising at least a passive optical network (PON), comprising:

a PON status module configured to obtain traffic status associated with the PON, wherein the traffic status corn rises one or more of: bandwidth utilization and a packet-dropping rate;

a traffic-shaping-factor-generation module configured to generate a traffic-shaping factor for the PON based on the traffic status; and

a traffic-shaping module configured to apply traffic shaping for each optical network unit (ONU) within the PON using the generated traffic-shaping factor, wherein the traffic-shaping factor determines a portion of a best-effort data rate to be provided to each ONU, and wherein, while generating the traffic-shaping factor, the traffic-shaping-factor-generation module is configured to:

in response to determining that the bandwidth utilization or the packet-dropping rate exceeds a predetermined threshold, reduce the traffic-shaping factor to reduce the portion of the best-effort data rate to be provided to each ONU.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the traffic-shaping module is located at a service-provider bridge and configured to reduce a transmission rate of packets destined to the PON.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the traffic-shaping module is located at a respective ONU and configured to reduce a request rate of packets destined to the ONU.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein, while generating the traffic-shaping factor, the traffic-shaping-factor-generation module is configured to:

in response to determining that the bandwidth utilization or the packet-dropping rate is below a second predetermined threshold, increase the traffic-shaping factor to increase the portion of the best-effort data rate to be provided to each ONU.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a packet-marking module configured to:

in response to determining that an amount of bandwidth used by a first ONU exceeds a guaranteed data rate provided to the first ONU, mark a packet destined to the first ONU as eligible for dropping.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a packet-processing module configured to:

in response to determining that congestion occurs at the PON, drop a packet destined to the PON marked as eligible for dropping.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein, while marking the packet, the packet-marking module is configured to set a predetermined bit in a service virtual local-area network (VLAN) tag.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the traffic-shaping-2 factor-generation module R located on one of: a network virtualization functions (NFV) switch; an optical line terminal (OLT) associated with the PON; and an access switch coupled to the PON.

Assignments (2)
MERGER Recorded Jan 6, 2023
From: TIBIT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
To: CIENA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 062296/0585 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 16, 2019
From: BOYD, EDWARD W.
To: TIBIT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 050734/0922 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62746476 · Oct 16, 2018
Related Publication 20200120407A1 · Apr 16, 2020
Cited By (2)
US 12,495,230 US 12,647,705