Patent Application
20070237176
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to communication networks that provide content over communication lines linked to customer premises equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication networks, such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks and cable networks are capable of providing a wide variety of services, including access to the Internet, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), voice services, Video-on-Demand (VoD), and access to a large number of content providers, such as providers of financial services, data searches, photo shops, interactive services, such as gaming, etc. Typically, such services are provided from a network element at a service provider's network to customer premises equipment over a data communications link, such as a digital subscriber line, cable or a satellite connection. The DSL typically is a pair of copper wires or optical fiber and the cable is typically a co-axial cable or a hybrid coaxial and fiber connection. Satellite systems use wireless connections. Customer premises equipment (CPE) often includes a DSL modem, residential gateway, such as a router, set-top-box and computer for exchanging content with the network elements.
Generally, the amount of downstream data (data from the network elements to the CPE) is substantially greater than the amount of upstream data (from CPE to the network elements) and thus the downstream data transfer uses higher bandwidth or higher available bit rate compared to the upstream available bit rate. The data transfer needs, however, for both the downstream and upstream data are continuously increasing and in certain cases the communication lines may not be able to handle the data requirements without degradation in the quality of service or installation of newer or shorter lines between the network elements and the CPE. Thus, there is a need for an improved system and method for transferring data between the CPE and network elements.
For detailed understanding of the present invention, references should be made to the following detailed description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements have been given like numerals, wherein:
The disclosure, in one aspect, provides a computer-readable medium accessible to a processor for executing instructions contained in a computer program embedded in the computer-readable medium, wherein the computer program includes: instructions to receive a compressed first data stream as a downstream data from a network element of a network over a data communication link; instructions to decompress the compressed first data stream; instructions to provide the decompressed first data stream to a customer premises equipment (CPE); instructions to receive a second data stream from the CPE for transmission to the network element as upstream data; instructions to compress the second data stream; and instructions to transmit the compressed second data stream as upstream data to the network element over the data communication link. The computer program further comprises instructions to decompress the compressed second data stream and compress the first data stream. The data communication link may be any suitable link including a digital subscriber line, cable, or wireless link.
The network element may be any suitable device, including a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM); cable network interface; wireless network interface; or stand-alone server. The first data stream and the second data stream each may be associated with an Asynchronous Transfer Mode DSL Network, an Internet Protocol DSL network or a Cable Packet network. The computer program may reside in a DSL modem, Residential Gateway, computer, or cable modem. The computer program may use different ratios for compression and decompression of the data.
The disclosure also provides an apparatus for use as an interface between a CPE and a communications network that provides content to the CPE over a data communication link. The apparatus includes a processor; a computer-readable medium accessible to the processor for executing instructions contained in the computer program embedded in the computer-readable medium, wherein the computer program comprises instructions to receive a compressed first data stream as a downstream data from a network element of the communication network over a data communication link; instructions to decompress the compressed first data stream; instructions to provide the compressed first data stream to a customer premises equipment (CPE); instructions to receive a second data stream from the CPE for transmission to the network element as upstream data; instructions to compress the second data stream; and instructions to transmit the compressed second data stream as upstream data to the network element over the data communication link.
The disclosure also provides a method that includes: decompressing downstream network data received over a communication link from a network for a client application; and compressing client application data received from the client application before transmission of the client application data as upstream data over the communication line to the network.
The backbone 102 is shown coupled via a digital subscriber line 114 to a DSL modem 118 that is then coupled to a customer gateway 116 (also referred to as the residential gateway (RG). The RG 116 may be a router and may be coupled to a set-top-box (STB) 120 that is connected to a television (TV) 122. The STB 120 may act as a control interface for the TV 122, be accessed by remote control 124, and be coupled to a digital video recorder (DVR) 136. One or more computers, such as computer 134, may also be coupled to the customer gateway 116. Alternative configurations for the CPE also may be used. The data transmission line or link may also be a cable connection or a satellite connection, such link 128, via a satellite dish 126.
The network 100 is further shown coupled of a number of content providers, (also referred herein as partners) over the Internet 104 (also referred to as the Public Internet). For example, the backbone 102 is shown coupled to a service provider “Yahoo” 138 via routers 140 and 142, and a link 144; a financial content provider 146 via routers 148 and 150, and a link 152; and a photo content provider 154 that provides photo albums stored by the customer over the Internet via routers 156 and 158, and a link 160. Similarly, the backbone 102 may be coupled to or have access to any other content provider (generally designated by number 162), such as an interactive gaming service that enables a customer to play games against other players, and a gaming service that enables a customer to bet online and settle accounts. The network 100 also may provide access to a variety of other services, such as multimedia services 164, and data centers that provide billing services, etc.
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In one aspect of the present disclosure, data is compressed in the upstream and downstream directions. One or more data compression algorithms or programs are installed in one or more devices in the service provider's network for compressing the downstream data before transmitting the compressed data to CPE over the link 209 and for decompressing the compressed data received from the CPE before transmitting it to the ISP 213 or the Public Internet 214 or to another device outside the backbone network that is not configured to receive the compressed data. Similarly, suitable algorithms or programs are placed in or are accessible to the CPE for decompressing the compressed data received from the network and for compressing the data generated at the customer end before transmitting such data to the network 208 over the link 209. Typically, the payload, which generally forms the bulk portion of the transmitted data, is compressed in both the upstream and downstream directions. The header and other portions are often nor compressed. The header is tagged to indicate that the data is compressed, which the program at the receiving end can identify and perform the decompression of such received data.
In the example of the network of
In the system of
The compression/decompression instructions may be independent of data type or may automatically adapt to data type and may achieve data compression ratios that facilitate efficient transfer of data over the DSL link. For example, the instructions may implement a compression and decompression algorithm in accordance with an ITU-U V.44 approach (or similar standard approaches) to compression/decompression to achieve a 6× (i.e., 6:1) compression ratio, allowing increased data rates. Typical downstream data rates between 384 kbps and 64 Mbps may thus be substantially enhanced. For example, a data rate of 128 Kbps may be enhanced to a data rate of 768 Kbps. A data rate of 384 Kbps may be enhanced to a data rate of 2304 Kbps. A data rate of 1024 Kbps may be enhanced to a data rate of 6144 Kbps. A data rate of 6 Mbps may be enhanced to a data rate of 36 Mbps.
Similarly, in a cable network (described later), the compression ratio may also be 6×. If an Expected Maximum Shared Channel Data Rate (EMSCDR) is 10 Mbps, such might be expected in a cable network compliant with DOCSIS version 1.0 or 1.1, then an EMSCDR of the compressed downstream data may be 60 Mbps (10 Mbps×6=60 Mbps). If an EMSCDR is 30 Mbps, which might be expected in a cable network compliant with DOCSIS version 2.0, then an EMSCDR of the compressed downstream data may be 180 Mbps (30 Mbps×6=180 Mbps).
In one aspect, a first processor associated with the network or CPE and a second processor at the CPE or Network may have a predetermined compression ratio or may have an adaptive compression ratio based upon an available bandwidth. Accordingly, if the amount of a downstream data far exceeds the amount of the upstream data, then the processors may select a more aggressive compression algorithm or a more aggressive compression ratio for downstream transmission than for upstream transmission. In another aspect, the instructions pertaining to decompression may include instructions that examine the data to determine whether decompression is appropriate. The decompression may be independent of the data type or may automatically adapt to the data type.
In another aspect, the compression/decompression device or the associated programs may determine whether data is compressed. The determination may be based upon the data type or based upon the processor that generated the application data. The client interface may also have a user interface, such as a switch or dialog box to allow the client to toggle between an “on” mode and an “off” mode to switch between the compression and non-compression modes. The computer program at the customer end may contain instructions to compress upstream data in response to an “on” mode of a user interface and not compress data in response to an “off” mode.
In another aspect, the compression algorithm and the compression ratio may be determined by a “handshake” phase when transmission is begun, e.g. a flag indicating the compression algorithm and the compression ratio may be included in a header block. If desired, a compression ratio associated with the computer program may be adjustable by the user or by an application with which the data is associated. If desired, the user may be prompted to select a compression algorithm and compression ratio, or a compression algorithm and compression ratio may be selected by default.
The computer-readable medium in which the programs are embedded and the processors that perform the data compression and/or decompression need not be located physically near the customer premises equipment and may reside anywhere within the compression network 200, regardless of whether the compression network 200 is a DSL network, a cable network, an IP network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a satellite network, and/or an Ethernet network. Suitable locations may include a remote DSL terminal, or a cable terminal, a service terminal (such as a DSLAM within the DSL link 114 of
In one aspect, a first processor for compressing/decompressing data may also be integrated into a peripheral device. For example, the processor may be integrated into a photograph scanner, digital video camera, or other device that creates digital content to be stored or archived. The computer, processor, peripheral device, or other device into which the processor is integrated may include custom software for use in a particular industry. For example, the set-top-box application may receive Video-On-Demand (VoD) data from the network. The VoD data may be addressed to a particular application that is executing on the computer 202, such as a teleconferencing application or a media player. The computer program may provide an interface between the DSL link and the particular application that is addressed, decompressing the VoD data for presentation by the teleconferencing application or the media player.
The second processor may be associated with a server located at a network termination of a cable modem termination system (CTMS), or may be a separate compression/decompression server (i.e., a stand-alone data compressor, or “SADC”) at a Head End Switch/Backbone Transport Adaptor between the head end switch at the backbone or a central office. The second processor may further toggle between an “enable” mode and a “disable” mode (in response to a determination whether the upstream network data is compressed) to decompress upstream IP data (i.e., the compressed upstream network data) that is received over the network 200 from the CPE.
As described above, the computer program and the first processor can selectively compress the upstream data and also decompress the downstream data. However, in other implementations, multiple computer programs and multiple processors may be used. Also, multiple networks may be used; the network that carries the downstream data may or may not be the same network as the network that carries the upstream data. Upstream data may have a much smaller bandwidth and so may be much more heavily multiplexed with other customers than the downstream data, which may be multicast to many customers. For example, a single narrow upstream channel may be provided to each customer, and each customer may compress data for upstream transmission, while a few downstream channels may suffice for an entire neighborhood and may be decompressed at a DSLAM. Other implementations are also contemplated, in some of which a single network is used, and in others of which multiple networks are used.
The computer program decompresses the downstream network data that is received over the communication link. If the computer program is coupled to more than one processor, then the computer program determines which processor should receive the downstream network data. The computer program provides the downstream network data to the processor.
Thus, the compression/decompression programs may reside at any suitable device within the a cable network, an IP network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a satellite network, an Ethernet network, a residential gateway of another customer or a building within which the customer premises' is located, a service terminal, or any other suitable device. Accordingly, in one aspect, payload or a part thereof passing through a link coupled between a CPE and backbone network may be compressed, such that the link has an enhanced bandwidth. Thus, a first processor may transmit compressed data to the second processor across the link and the second processor may transmit compressed data to the first processor across the link. Each processor decompresses the data received from the other processor. The computer programs associated with data compression and decompression may reside within a network termination of a cable modem termination system (CTMS), within a Head End Switch/Backbone Transport Adaptor, or within a separate compression/decompression server between the head end switch and backbone. Thus, the networks depicted in
As shown at Block 518, the method provides for the selection of an “enable” mode or a “disable” mode. A user or a process executing within the network may toggle a compression mode from enable to disable, or from disable to enable. When in the disable mode, the method does not compress data, and does not decompress data. The disable mode may facilitate interoperability with legacy networks and with legacy applications, and may speed up transmission when a client application's bandwidth requirements are so small that compression itself can impose a relatively significant processing burden. The toggling may be controlled by a meta-application that examines a data requirement for each client application and determines whether to enable or disable compression. Disabling of decompression may be overridden when the downstream network data itself contains a flag indicating that the downstream network data is compressed.
At block 520, the method includes receiving an upgrade for the compression/decompression programs from a remote server. At block 520, the computer program itself may be altered or updated. New instructions may be received to supplement or replace instructions within the computer program, or instructions may be deleted or rearranged. The computer-readable medium may be implemented as a distributed set of physical media each of which is located in a different location.
At the network end, the downstream data is received from a data source, compressed at the network side and transmitted to the customer premises over the communications link. The compressed upstream data received at the network is decompressed before sending such data outside the service provider network.
The computer system 600 may include a processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, which communicate with each other via a bus 608. The computer system 600 may further include a video display unit 610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 600 may include an input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 614 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interface device 620.
The disk drive unit 616 may include a machine-readable medium 622 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 624) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein, including those methods illustrated in herein above. The instructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604, the static memory 606, and/or within the processor 602 during execution thereof by the computer system 600. The main memory 604 and the processor 602 also may constitute machine-readable media. Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement the methods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions in two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and data signals communicated between and through the modules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.
In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, the methods described herein are intended for operation as software programs running on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementations can include, but not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the methods described herein.
The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containing instructions 624, or that which receives and executes instructions 624 from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a network environment 626 can send or receive voice, video or data, and to communicate over the network 626 using the instructions 624. The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over a network 626 via the network interface device 620.
While the machine-readable medium 622 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present disclosure. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile) memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; and carrier wave signals such as a signal embodying computer instructions in a transmission medium; and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more of a machine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein and including art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software implementations herein are stored.
Although, the present specification describes components and functions implemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standards and protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards and protocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) represent examples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having the same functions are considered equivalents.
The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments, and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all the elements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use of the structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived there from, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Figures are merely representational and may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “disclosure” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
