Lucent Technologies Inc.

Alcatel Lucent

At+t Corp.

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Alcatel-lucent USA Inc.

Debasis Mitra

Kajamalai Gopalaswamy Ramakrishnan

John A Morrison

Iraj Saniee

Anwar Elwalid

Qiong Wang

Indra Widjaja

Anwar I Walid

Eric Bouillet

Carl Jeremy Nuzman

Martin Zirngibl

Gordon Thomas Wilfong

Krishnan Kumaran

Randy Clinton Giles

Victor Bernard Lawrence

T V Lakshman

Dimitrios Stiliadis

Keith Stanley

Geoffrey Edmund Margrave

Judith B Seery

Petri Aukia

Ilze Ziedins

Robert H Wentworth

Kajamalai Goplaswamy Ramakrishnan

A communication network is configured to implement time scale separated management and provisioning optimizations, for example, in a core optical network coupled to multiple data networks. Network management optimizations are performed at respective points in time separated by intervals of a first time scale, and network provisioning optimizations are performed at respective points in time separated by intervals of a second time scale, with the intervals of the second time scale being on average substantially longer than the intervals of the first time scale. Moreover, at least a given one of the intervals of the second time scale has a length which is determined based on results of performance of one or more of the network management optimizations. The core optical network may be configured utilizing information specified by the network management and network provisioning optimizations.

Time scale separated network management and network provisioning optimizations

A method of operating a packet network includes the step of selecting one of a plurality of candidate gateways to connect a multimedia communication session between the packet network and a TDM network. The packet network has a source node of the multimedia communication session, and the TDM network has a destination of the multimedia communication session. The candidate gateways interconnect the packet network and the TDM network. The selecting step includes comparing end-to-end congestions for bearer traffic between the source node and different candidate gateways of the plurality.

Intelligent media gateway selection for multimedia communication sessions

An optical communications network architecture and associated method which employs time and wavelength-interleaving for homing between nodes/satellites and hubs and for grooming, while employing wavelength-division-multiplexed wavelength circuits between hubs without requiring cross-connects or routers therebetween.

Optical telecommunications network and method

A method includes transmitting a list of willingness-to-pays for optical data capacities to an optical network. The optical network has a set of gateway nodes connected directly to nodes of a data network. The optical network is configured to transmit data communications on a plurality of wavelength channels. Each willingness-to-pay represents a value for an optical data capacity between a corresponding pair of the gateway nodes of the optical network.

Hybrid optical and data networks

In a system and method of optical communication, optical signals are generated in multiple wavelength channels. Each optical signal is passively transported from an origination node of a network to a destination node. The destination node is determined by the signal wavelength. For at least some signals, the passive transport includes transport through a branch point of the network, such that the signal wavelength determines the output branch through which the signal is routed. In certain embodiments, signals are generated according to a schedule devised to substantially prevent the concurrent arrival, at the same destination node, of signals having the same wavelength but coming from different origination nodes.

System and method for WDM communication with interleaving of optical signals for efficient wavelength utilization

Disclosed are network management procedures that apply measurements of traffic load to achieve greater efficiency in the operation of the network. In a method for deciding whether to route an incoming call on a selected potential service route, the potential service route is treated preferentially if each of its links has available capacity that is more than sufficient by a specified margin. In a method for computing billing revenues, the non-compliance of the network service provider with contracted requirements for carried load causes a revenue penalty to be exacted for lost bandwidth.

Method for controlling the disposition of an incoming call based on the loading status of a route and on a test of each link along the route

A method is provided for a dynamic optimization of network resource allocation on the part of a network service provider. In particular, the method of the invention provides an analytical framework for a determination by network service providers of an optimal resource allocation among links in a service provider's own network and links obtained from other network service providers. The analytical framework of the invention also incorporates, as a parameter, the provision of link capacity to other network service providers in the determination of an optimal resource allocation. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, such an optimal resource allocation is determined in respect to revenue maximization for the network service provider.

Decision support mechanisms for bandwidth commerce in communication networks

Measurement-based management method for packet communication networks

Generalized Processor Sharing (GPS) is a scheduling discipline which provides minimum service guarantees as well as fair resource sharing. The performance of GPS is governed by the scheduling weights associated with individual connections. The system discloses methods for GPS scheduling that handle an arbitrary number of connection classes and reservation-based weights and admission control techniques to achieve fairness among connection classes. The methods allow statistical multiplexing gains in the presence of multiple traffic and Quality of Service (QoS) classes of connections that share a common trunk. Also disclosed are several novel techniques to compute and adapt the weights.

Methods and apparatus for managing communication networks supporting multiple quality of service classes utilizing generalized processor sharing

A method is described for solving traffic engineering problems in a network. In one aspect, the invention is used in a network that has at least one QoS service class and at least one class of service that is not a QoS class. Bandwidth is allocated to service routes in the QoS service class so as to optimize a figure of merit such as network revenue. Then a new allocation is made so as to minimize network usage without departing too far from the optimal value of the figure of merit. A residual network consists of that bandwidth that remains unallocated, on each link of the network. Bandwidth for non-QoS traffic is allocated to routes on the residual network. In a second aspect, the invention involves the use of optimization techniques to allocate bandwidth among service routes in one or more service classes in response to a set of demands in each class. The demands are calculated so as to take into account an effective bandwidth associated with the pertinent class, and so as to make allowance for the stochastic behavior of the traffic demands that occur in practice.

Multicommodity flow method for designing traffic distribution on a multiple-service packetized network

A packet network employs routers that determine network routing based on quality of service (QoS) provisioning parameters and network topology information. QoS provisioning parameters are provided to each router from a network management database, and the network topology information is determined from a link state database of the router. The link state database may include network topology information collected by the router in accordance with the open shortest path protocol (OSPF). A network link, router, or other node failure initiates a new path-selection process. First, a temporary set of provisioning entries may be determined with a shortest path first (SPF) routing method. Then, the network packet flows may be classified into packet flows, real-time and non-real-time, and then as packet flows that require reserved bandwidth or that may be multiplexed. A multicommodity flow (MCF) routing method is then employed to determine an optimized set of candidate provisioning entries for the packet flows that may be multiplexed. The MCF routing method determines new routing for the packet flows based on QoS provisioning commitments as parameters. The MCF routing method determines the new routing based on an optimization criterion, such as maximized revenue. Once the new routing is determined, routing of network traffic is enabled by converting the provisioning entries into filter rules, which are then loaded into the packet classifier of the router.

Adaptive routing system and method for QOS packet networks

This Generalized Processor Sharing (GPS) is the basis for the packet scheduler of choice in IP routers and ATM switches of the future. The currently accepted approach for the design of GPS schedulers is based on deterministic QoS guarantees, which, it is generally accepted, is overly conservative and leads to limitations on capacity. To address this problem we develop a framework for GPS scheduling which is based on statistical QoS guarantees and statistical multiplexing. We give the design of GPS weights which maximize the coverage of operating points, and also the design of the connection admission control (CAC). The general framework is end-to-end, with two heterogeneous QoS classes coexisting with a third, best effort class. Each QoS class has a specified delay bound together with a bound on the probability of its violation. An important objective is to maximize the bandwidth available to best effort traffic while just satisfying the guarantees of the QoS classes. To this end, we consider output regulated GPS scheduling which has the additional feature of limiting each connection's share of the bandwidth to a specified value, a design parameter which is determined by our analysis. The sources are subject to standard dual leaky bucket regulation. For the design of the GPS weights we give procedures based on two key concepts, the realizable set and the critical weights. The realizable set is the union of all admissible sets of connections of both classes over all weights. One of the main contributions is a pragmatic design process by which most of the realizable set is realized by only two critical weights. In the benign case, the system is &ldquo;effectively homogeneous&rdquo; and a single GPS weight suffices, while in the complementary &ldquo;effectively non-homogeneous&rdquo; case it is necessary to switch between the critical weights. The numerical results, which are for a single node with a wide range of traffic and QoS parameters, validate the design procedure and also show that there are substantial capacity gains from statistical multiplexing.

Packet scheduling in a communication network with statistical multiplexing of service classes

We describe a method for solving the joint problem of optimal routing and optimal bandwidth allocation in a network that supports plural subnetworks and plural communication services. Our method involves, for each source-destination pair communicating via a given subnetwork and a given class of service, determining a traffic rate to be offered to each of a set of permissible routes between that source and that destination, in the given subnetwork and service class. Our method further involves allocating a respective bandwidth to each link of each subnetwork. Significantly, the determinations of traffic rate to be offered, and the allocations of bandwidth to respective links of subnetworks, are performed in a mutually responsive manner.

Method for resource allocation and routing in multi-service virtual private networks

The traffic shaping system according to the principles of the present invention increases the connection-carrying capacity of a network node by shaping the data cells to increase the admissible number of connections. In accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention, the traffic shaping system uses a data buffer at the ingress of the network node to selectively buffer classes of data cells. As such, the traffic shaping system exploits differences in delay tolerances between traffic classes to shape the less delay sensitive traffic classes to reduce the effective bandwidth of a connection of the particular traffic class and thereby increase the nodal connection-carrying capacity. Certain embodiments of the traffic shaping system operate within a framework to provide parameters for the traffic shaping system which increase the connection-carrying capacity for the node while meeting quality of service requirements for the data cells. In accordance with certain embodiments, an integrated regulator and shaper is provided which concurrently regulates and shapes the traffic cells to increase the nodal connection-carrying capacity.

Traffic shaper for network nodes and method thereof

A method and apparatus use a set of parameters characterizing an interference signal at a base unit for determining power levels for signals transmitted from a communications device to the base unit. The set of parameters comprises second or higher order statistics characterizing the interference signal, and the parameters are used to determine a desired power level for signals received at the base unit. The desired power level is communicated to a communications device via a pilot signal transmitted by the base unit at a predetermined level. The predetermined level and the power of the received pilot signal are used to compute a path gain between the base unit and communications device. The path gain and desired power level are then used to determine the power level of signals transmitted from the communications device to the base unit.

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Summit, NJ, United States of America

Debasis Mitra