Huawei Technologies Co., Limited

Huawei Technologies Canada Co., Ltd.

Blackberry Corporation

William Carson McCormick

Peter J Ashwood-Smith

Francis Patrick Kelly

Mehdi Arashmid Akhavain Mohammadi

Tao Wan

Yufei Wang

Paul Mark Joseph Dumais

Trevor Peter Sweeney

Scott Bjorn Birksted

A method and apparatus for transmitting data using moving communication nodes. A network element can communicate with a plurality of moving communication simultaneously. The network element identifies a plurality of potential initial nodes for transmitting data to a desired destination. The network element can then evaluate each of the potential initial nodes using one or more selection criteria. The initial node can be selected from the plurality of potential initial nodes as the potential initial node that best satisfies the selection criteria. The transmission to the initial node can act as the first link in a data route from the network element to the desired geographic destination.

Method and apparatus for data routing using moving communication nodes

The present invention provides a method and apparatus used to reduce the estimated field of uncertainty of satellite positions in space. This reduced field of uncertainty estimate reduces link acquisition time of satellites as they establish inter-satellite optical links between each other. The method and apparatus reduces the estimated field of uncertainty by combining estimated field of uncertainty generated by multiple independent sources. The method further includes combining estimated field of uncertainty generated using existing field of uncertainty techniques with estimated filed of uncertainty created by a machine vision detection and location module. This machine vision detection and location module generates an estimated field of uncertainty that is a result of executing of one or more algorithms to process digital imagery data provided by a passive digital camera.

Inter-satellite link acquisition supported by machine vision

A method for configuring a communication network, including obtaining information indicative of current status of nodes of the communication network, links between said nodes of the communication network or a combination thereof; processing the information to determine a network configuration based on the obtained information, the network configuration implementable in the communication network by adjusting one or more of said nodes, one of more of said links between said node, or a combination thereof, wherein said processing comprises evaluating at least the network configuration based on a connectivity metric indicative of an extent to which said nodes are interconnected via said links; and providing instructions directing one or more underlying resources to implement the network configuration. A device including a network interface, a processor, and a non-transient computer readable memory having stored instructions which when executed by the processor configure the device to execute the methods disclosed herein.

Method and apparatus for configuring a communication network using a connectivity metric

A method and apparatus for configuring a communication network based on a distance metric. Information indicative of current status of communication network nodes, links between the nodes, or a combination thereof is obtained and processed to determine a network configuration. The network configuration is implementable in the communication network by adjusting one or more nodes or links. The processing includes evaluating network configurations based on a distance metric, which is indicative of lengths of shortest paths which interconnect nodes of the network. Instructions directing underlying resources to implement the network configuration can be provided. An apparatus can be a supervisory device including a network interface and a computer processor.

Method and apparatus for configuring a communication network using a distance metric

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for supporting estimation of inter-satellite link acquisition times in a satellite constellation. The method includes computing or generating an indication of a statistical model based on observations for prior link acquisition times. The method further includes communicating an indication such as a statistical model for link acquisition times or related parameters through a communication network, or a combination thereof. The indication may be communicated using one or more transmission techniques or protocols, such as flooding, a link state protocol or gossip protocol. Based on the disseminated indication, future link acquisition times can be predicted by satellites in the satellite constellation. Embodiments of the invention use a statistical-based computation approach, such as regression modelling or random variable modelling, to estimate link acquisition times or associated estimation parameters. The estimates or associated estimation parameters may then be disseminated through the constellation.

Method and apparatus for supporting estimation of link acquisition time in satellite-based networks

The present invention is provides a method and apparatus for routing a data packet in a network. For each nearby device capable of routing the packet toward a further destination, an associated cost or utility is determined. The device with lowest cost or highest utility is selected and the packet is forwarded toward same. The selecting may use a comparator tree. The cost or utility may be associated with forwarding the data packet from the candidate device toward the further destination. The cost or utility may be based on a distance from candidate device to the further destination, and may be determined using a Haversine function or approximation thereof, or by computing an inner product of a first vector and a second vector originating at a center of Earth, the first vector directed toward the candidate device, the second vector directed toward the further destination.

Packet forwarding based on geometric location

A method and apparatus for routing packets in a network, such as a satellite mesh network. For each one of multiple destination devices capable of further handling of the packet for routing to a destination (e.g. ground station) a respective cost or utility associated with forwarding the packet to that destination device is determined. For a given value k, an unsorted subset of k of the destination devices for which said costs are lowest or said utilities are highest is determined, without necessarily fully sorting the plurality of destination devices by cost or utility. The data packet is then forwarded to a selected one of this subset of destination devices. Cost may correspond to distance from destination device (e.g. satellite) to the further destination. Sorting networks and selector networks can be used, for example as implemented in hardware, to generate the unsorted subset.

Packet forwarding incorporating partial sorting of path costs or utilities

A method and apparatus for allocating server resources to services are provided. Multiple services compete for resources on one or more servers and bid for resources. Servers assign resources based on bids according to an auctioning rule mechanism. Services update bids according to a probabilistic dynamic that can approximate a continuous-time Markov chain, both for each service and for the collection of services. The method and apparatus can involve multiple separate but interacting agents, and can be implemented for example for self-organization of a datacentre. The behaviours of the agents can be configured so that the collective behaviour results in a proportional fair resource allocation.

Self-configuration of servers and services in a datacenter

A system and method for fair resource allocation includes a method. The method includes determining demand for a plurality of communications features of a network. The method further includes determining resource allocations for virtual computing instances hosted by a plurality of servers. The virtual computing instances serve the communications features. The method further includes adjusting the resource allocations for the virtual computing instances according to the demand for the communications features and a fairness algorithm.

System and method for fair resource allocation

A wireless communication access node (WCAN) device includes radio frequency (RF) circuitry, RF interface (I/F) circuitry, network communication circuitry, memory, and/or processing circuitry. The WCAN device facilitates communications of a wireless communication device (e.g., User Equipment (UE)) in accordance with a policy profile record associated with the wireless communication device (e.g., policy profile record may be retrieved from a distributed cloud database that is distributedly implemented within the mobile backhaul communication system). The WCAN device collects communications statistics based on the communications of the wireless communication device and updates a communications statistics record associated with the wireless communication device within the distributed cloud database to include the communications statistics that are collected based on the communications of the wireless communication device. The distributed cloud database stores policy profile records and communications statistics records for various wireless communication devices including the wireless communication device.

Wireless communication access node (WCAN) device based policy enforcement and statistics collection in anchorless communication systems

A method and apparatus for instantiating network slices using connectivity and computing resources, is provided. Information regarding connectivity and computing resources for supporting network slices is used to identify shared risk groups. Each shared risk group includes those resources expected to be disabled by a common failure event. A first set of functions, such as virtual network functions, belonging to a network slice, is instantiated on a first subset of the resources. The union of all shared risk groups which include at least one of the first subset of resources is disjoint from the union of all shared risk groups which include at least one of a second subset of resources. The second subset of resources is allocated for instantiating a second set of functions which are redundant with the first set of functions. As such, redundant network slices and/or functions thereof can be provided which are robust to failure.

Method and apparatus for operating network slices using shared risk groups

There is disclosed a network communication system that includes data sources and of switches. Each of the data sources and switches is interconnected by a packet-switched network, and is synchronized to a common clock. The system also includes a network controller that maintains records of network characteristics including a transmission delay for each of the data sources and switches, and a transmission delay for links in the packet-switched network. The network controller processes the network characteristics to generate, for each of a plurality of packets of a given type of traffic: a path from a particular data source, and through at least one particular switch, and a schedule of departure times at each of the particular data source and the at least one particular switch. The path and the schedule are optimized to meet jitter requirements for the given type of traffic.

Systems, devices, and methods for low-jitter communication over a packet-switched network

A data traffic scheduling method that includes selecting, using a network controller, plurality of flows that traverses a network node, generating an augmented graph based on a flow rate of the plurality of flows and link capacities of the network node, computing a flow schedule for the flow using the augmented graph to minimize delay or delay variance of the flows, and outputting the flow schedule. A data traffic scheduling method that includes obtaining, using a network controller, a network topology for a network, generating an augmented graph based on the network topology, converting the augmented graph to a mixed-integer linear program, scheduling a flow in the network using the mixed-integer linear program to minimize delay or delay variance of the flow, and outputting a flow schedule.

Low jitter traffic scheduling on a packet network

An apparatus includes radio transceiver equipment configured to transmit and receive radio signals to and from mobile devices within a coverage area of a Radio Access Network. A Mobile Edge Computing server is integrated with the radio transceiver equipment. The Mobile Edge Computing server is configured to host at least one application instantiating a virtual Rendezvous Point operative to support a bidirectional data link between a predetermined pair of the mobile devices.

Mobile edge computing for tele-operation

Embodiments are provided for path flow scheduling of multicast traffic through a network. The paths for traffic flow are determined to optimize link utilization in terms of bandwidth and link capacity, and limit link cost. In an embodiment, a method is implemented for network flow scheduling. The method includes establishing, by a controller of a network, a multicast tree which includes a plurality of links for sending multicast traffic from a source to multiple destinations. The tree is established based on minimizing a number of links in the multicast tree. The tree is then adjusted by replacing one or more of the plurality of links to reduce the link utilization. The tree adjustment is repeated by further replacing one or more links in the multicast tree to further reduce the link utilization.

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Ottawa, Canada

William Carson McCormick