Quality of service traffic recognition and packet classification home mesh network

1. A method comprising:

extracting a port identifier in a transport layer header of a packet having a packet type associated with a priority level, the packet being transmitted from or to an application according to a network protocol in a multi-hop mesh network having a local node and a remote node, the port identifier including a port number; and

classifying the packet into the packet type using the port identifier and one of a pre-defined port list, a dynamic port table, and an application header of the application,

wherein classifying comprises:

if the port identifier belongs to the pre-defined port list, classifying the packet to the packet type associated with the port identifier in the pre-defined port list, and if the port identifier does not belong to the pre-defined port list, searching the dynamic port table for the port identifier,

if the dynamic port table contains the port identifier, classifying the packet into the packet type associated with the port identifier in the dynamic port table, and if the dynamic port table does not contain the port identifier, analyzing the application header to identify the packet type,

classifying the packet into the packet type identified from the application header, and

updating the dynamic port table to include the port identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing the application header comprises:

capturing a control packet belonging to a current application session to identify a session type or a streaming type; and

recognizing the network protocol.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein updating the dynamic port table comprises:

associating the priority level to the port identifier; and

removing the port identifier from the dynamic port table when a connection of the application session is closed.

4. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine-accessible storage medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

extracting a port identifier in a transport layer header of a packet having a packet type associated with a priority level, the packet being transmitted from or to an application according to a network protocol in a multi-hop mesh network having a local node and a remote node, the port identifier including a port number; and

classifying the packet into the packet type using the port identifier and one of a pre-defined port list, a dynamic port table, and an application header of the application,

wherein classifying comprises:

if the port identifier belongs to the pre-defined port list, classifying the packet to the packet type associated with the port identifier in the pre-defined port list, and if the port identifier does not belong to the pre-defined port list, searching the dynamic port table for the port identifier,

if the dynamic port table contains the port identifier, classifying the packet into the packet type associated with the port identifier in the dynamic port table, and if the dynamic port table does not contain the port identifier, analyzing the application header to identify the packet type,

classifying the packet into the packet type identified from the application header, and

updating the dynamic port table to include the port identifier.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 4 wherein the data causing the machine to perform analyzing the application header comprise data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

capturing a control packet belonging to a current application session to identify a session type or a streaming type; and

recognizing the network protocol.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 4 wherein the data causing the machine to perform updating the dynamic port table comprise data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

associating the priority level to the port identifier; and

removing the port identifier from the dynamic port table when a connection of the application session is closed.

7. An apparatus comprising:

an extractor to extract a port identifier in a transport layer header of a packet having a packet type associated with a priority level, the packet being transmitted from or to an application according to a network protocol in a multi-hop mesh network having a local node and a remote node, the port identifier including a port number; and

a packet classifier coupled to the extractor to classify the packet into the packet type using the port identifier and one of a pre-defined port list, a dynamic port table, and an application header of the application,

wherein the packet classifier comprises:

the pre-defined port list wherein if the port identifier belongs to the pre-defined port list, the packet is classified to the packet type associated with the port identifier in the pre-defined port list,

the dynamic port table wherein if the port identifier does not belong to the pre-defined port list and the dynamic port table contains the port identifier, the packet is classified into the packet type associated with the port identifier in the dynamic port table,

an analyzer to analyze the application header to identify the packet type, and wherein if the port identifier does not belong to the pre-defined port list and the dynamic port table does not contain the port identifier, the packet is classified into the packet type identified from the application header, and

an updater to update the dynamic port table to include the port identifier.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the analyzer captures a control packet belonging to a current application session to identify a session type or a streaming type, and recognizes the network protocol.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the updater associates the priority level to the port identifier, and removes the port identifier from the dynamic port table when a connection of the application session is closed.