The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 10, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 30, 1999
Amit Gupta, Fremont, CA (US);
Michael Speer, Mountain View, CA (US);
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for efficient and reliable multicasting in a network environment. In embodiments of the invention, a sender transmits identical information encapsulated in data packets to a plurality of receivers. Periodically, receivers submit responses that include control information regarding the loss or receipt of data packets transmitted by the sender. Using these information a sender retransmits any undelivered packets to intended receivers. Responses submitted by the participating receivers, generate a traffic flow that can consume a substantial portion of the network bandwidth. Thus, in embodiments of the invention, the rate at which the responses are submitted is monitored and controlled to minimize control traffic. Over congestion of the network bandwidth with control information is undesirable as it adversely effects the data transmission rate. Thus, in embodiments of the invention, packet loss responses are generated at time intervals. These intervals are adjustable based on the performance of the receivers. A time interval in generation of packet loss information may result in a lower error correction rate. However, since the control traffic that results from the generation of the responses is monitored, the failure states associated with an over congested network bandwidth are minimized.