1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of data networking. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved data communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internet users today may communicate using a variety of different client applications including real-time messaging applications (e.g., instant messaging or “chat” applications) and real-time, two-way video applications. For example, certain client applications (such as, for example, the “Qik” client developed by Qik, Inc.), allow users to participate in two-way live video chat over 3G and 4G cellular phone networks.
a-b illustrate an exemplary configuration in which two mobile devices 101-102 participate in a two-way video chat.
As illustrated, the path taken by both the control/signaling and media data includes a phone subnetwork 105 which may be a standard wireless cellular network (e.g., such as a 3G or 4G network). The phone subnetwork 105 is connected to a service sub-network 115 via a router 110. The service subnetwork is a data network used to support mobile data traffic and route the data traffic over the Internet 125 via an external firewall 120. The phone subnetwork 105 and service subnetwork 115 are maintained by a wireless service provider such as T-Mobile™, AT&T™, or Verizon™.
Currently, to enable real-time video conversations between the mobile devices 101-102, each of the mobile devices must be connected over the Internet 125 to a common set of streaming servers 150. Each mobile device 101-102 opens its own UDP datagram socket to the streaming servers 105 and the streaming servers then route the datagrams containing the video content over the appropriate datagram sockets. For example, the streaming servers 150 route video received from mobile device 101 over mobile device 102's datagram socket connection and vice versa.
One drawback of this configuration is that because each mobile device 101-102 must connect to a streaming server over the Internet 125, significant latency may be introduced. Consequently, a more efficient way to route video between the mobile devices 101-102 would be desirable.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained from the following detailed description in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
a-b illustrate current techniques for establishing real time video sessions between two mobile devices.
a-b illustrate techniques for improving latency by placing relay servers on the perimeter of a service provider's network in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
a-b illustrate two different embodiments in which multiple relay servers are used to establish communication between mobile devices.
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention described below. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. For example, embodiments of the invention are described below within the context of real-time video applications, the underlying principles of the invention are not limited to any particular type of media communication. Additionally, while the discussion below focuses on specific service provider networks, the underlying principles of the invention are applicable to implementations on any form of radio networks. Finally, in some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the underlying principles of the embodiments of the invention.
One embodiment of the invention improves the quality of experience for end users when conducting real-time video sessions by deploying a set of in-network relays at the perimeter of service provider networks. Specifically, As illustrated in
a illustrates the control/signaling data routing used to establish a relay connection. Client applications installed on the mobile devices 101-102 discover these in network relay server(s) 151 during this control/signaling phase. In one embodiment, each in network relay server(s) 151 is registered with the streaming servers 150 using the outbound connection. In one embodiment, the mobile device 101 initiating the video session initially connects to the streaming servers 150 which then provides the network information needed to connect to the relay service (e.g., IP address and port) to both of the clients 101-102.
In one embodiment, a relay server 151 which is relatively “close” to one or both mobile devices 101, 102 on the network is selected by the streaming servers 150. Note that the proximity of the relay server 151 to the mobile devices 101, 102 may be determined based on network information provided to the streaming servers 150 (e.g., the TCP/IP addresses of the mobile devices and/or the relay server 151). The location of each relay server may be registered with the streaming servers 150 and the streaming servers 150 may use this information to determine the best relay server for servicing each request. Other information such as the current load on each of the relay servers 151 may also be factored in to the decision.
Once the two mobile devices 101-102 have the network information, they connect to the relay server(s) 151, which establishes a real-time video session between the devices, as illustrated in
In one embodiment the router 110 is a well known device for routing network packets to an appropriate destination, as identified by the destination address stored in each packet header. For example, the mobile devices 101, 102 may use the TCP/IP address of the streaming servers 150 when sending connection requests to the streaming servers 150. The router 110 will then route the requests to the appropriate destinations.
When the embodiments of the invention shown in
While the embodiment described above uses UDP datagrams, it should be noted that the underlying principles of the invention are not limited to any particular network communication protocols.
In the particular implementation shown in
In one embodiment, multiple relay servers may be set up at convenient locations throughout the perimeter of the service provider's network. Additionally, multiple relay servers may be used to support communication across the service subnetworks of different service providers.
a illustrates one embodiment in which relay server 151 and relay server 152 communicate with one another to route UDP datagrams between mobile devices 101 and 102. As in prior embodiments, the mobile device 101 initiating the connection may first contact the streaming servers 150. In response, the streaming servers 150 provide mobile device 101 networking information needed to connect with relay server 151 and mobile device 102 the networking information needed to connect with relay server 152. Upon connecting, the relay servers 151-152 then establish a UDP datagram socket between one another to route the UDP datagram traffic containing the video data.
b illustrates an alternate implementation in which relay server 151 receives UDP datagram traffic containing video data from mobile device 101 and routes it to mobile device 102 and the second relay server 152 receives UDP datagram traffic containing video data from mobile device 102 and routes it to mobile device 101. As in the embodiments described above, an initial connection to the streaming servers 150 may be needed to retrieve the networking information needed to connect with the two relay servers 151-152.
While the relay servers 151-152 are configured within the service subnetwork in the discussion above, in other embodiments, some relay servers may be configured within the phone subnetwork 1056-106. In such a case, if both mobile devices are connected to the same subnetwork, a relay server on that subnetwork may be used to connect the devices. If the mobile devices are on different phone subnetworks, however, then a relay server on the service subnetwork 115 may be selected.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
Embodiments of the invention may include various steps as set forth above. The steps may be embodied in machine-executable instructions which cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor to perform certain steps. Alternatively, these steps may be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logic for performing the steps, or by any combination of programmed computer components and custom hardware components. Elements of the present invention may also be provided as a machine-readable medium for storing the machine-executable program code. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic program code.
Throughout the foregoing description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details were set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. For example, it will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art that the functional modules and methods described herein may be implemented as software, hardware or any combination thereof. Moreover, although some embodiments of the invention are described herein within the context of a client P2P application, the underlying principles of the invention may be implemented in the form of a server application or any other form of client application. Accordingly, the scope and spirit of the invention should be judged in terms of the claims which follow.