Communications scheduler

1. A system for providing network communications, the system comprising:

a TCP/IP stack module stored in memory and executed by a processor to:

receive application data in a data flow, inform a communications scheduler module that the data flow has data to be transmitted over a network, and generate at least one data packet for the data flow from the application data to be transmitted over the network, when directed by the communications scheduler module;

the communications scheduler module stored in memory and executed by the processor to:

determine the capacity of a path, select a suitable path, prioritize data flows for the selected path based on the TCP/IP stack module informing the communications scheduler module which data flows have data to be transmitted, select a data flow for the selected path, and direct the TCP/IP stack module to generate the at least one data packet for the data flow from the application data in the selected data flow, buffering of the at least one data packet from the application data not being required at the communications scheduler module; and

a communications interface module stored in memory and executed by the processor to transmit the at least one data packet for the data flow via the selected path at an optimal transmission rate, wherein the data flow is transmitted over the selected path without waiting for lost packets or acknowledgements to indicate network congestion.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the communications scheduler module to determine the capacity of the path includes determining a bandwidth estimate.

3. The system of claim 1 , the communications scheduler module is executable to determine whether a data flow has information to send prior to selecting the data flow for the path.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communications scheduler module is executable to determine respective priorities of data flows and select the data flow based on the priorities and the capacity of the path.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the priorities are based on a fairness policy.

6. A method for providing network communications, the method comprising:

executing by a processor a TCP/IP stack module stored in memory to:

receive application data in a data flow, inform a communications scheduler module that the data flow has data to be transmitted over a network, and generate at least one data packet for the data flow from the application data to be transmitted over the network, when directed by the communications scheduler module;

executing by a processor the communications scheduler module stored in memory to:

determine the capacity of a path, select a suitable path, prioritize data flows for the selected path based on the TCP/IP stack module informing the communications scheduler module which data flows have data to be transmitted, select a data flow for the selected path, and direct the TCP/IP stack module to generate the at least one data packet for the data flow from the application data in the selected data flow, buffering of the at least one data packet from the application data not being required at the communications scheduler module; and

executing by a processor a communications interface module stored in memory to transmit the at least one data packet for data flow via the selected path at an optimal transmission rate, wherein the data flow is transmitted over the selected path without waiting for lost packets or acknowledgements to indicate network congestion.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein executing the communications scheduler module to determine the capacity of the path includes determining a bandwidth estimate.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising executing the communications scheduler module to determine whether a data flow has information to send prior to selecting the data flow for the path.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising executing the communications scheduler module to determine respective priorities of data flows, wherein the data flow is selected based on the priorities and the capacity of the path.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the priorities are based on a fairness policy.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a program embodied thereon, the program executable by a processor to perform a method for providing network communications, the method comprising:

executing a TCP/IP stack module stored in memory to:

receive application data in a data flow, inform a communications scheduler module that the data flow has data to be transmitted over a network, and generate at least one data packet for the data flow from the application data to be transmitted over the network, when directed by the communications scheduler module;

executing the communications scheduler module stored in memory to:

determine the capacity of a path, select a suitable path, prioritize data flows for the selected path based on the TCP/IP stack module informing the communications scheduler module which data flows have data to be transmitted, select a data flow for the selected path, and direct the TCP/IP stack module to generate the at least one data packet for the data flow from the application data in the selected flow, buffering of the at least one data packet from the application data not being required at the communications scheduler module; and

executing a communications interface module stored in memory to transmit the at least one data packet for data flow via the selected path at an optimal transmission rate, wherein the data flow is transmitted over the selected path without waiting for lost packets or acknowledgements to indicate network congestion.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein executing the communications scheduler module to determine the capacity of the path includes determining a bandwidth estimate.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises executing the communications scheduler module to determine whether a data flow has information to send prior to the selection of the data flow for the path.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises executing the communications scheduler module to determine respective priorities of data flows, wherein the data flow is selected based on the priorities and the capacity of the path.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the priorities are based on a fairness policy.