System and Method for Combining Requests for Data Bandwith by a Data Source for Transmission of Data Over a Communication Medium

Abstract

A method and system for combining requests for data bandwidth by a data source for transmission of data over a communication medium is provided. A central node receives one or more bandwidths requests from one or more data sources via wireless communication. A scheduler then combines one or more bandwidths requests from the same data source to create a single data burst bandwidth. The central node then grants the data burst bandwidth to the appropriate data source via a communications medium.

1 . A method for combining requests for bandwidth for transmission of data over a communication medium, comprising:
 receiving bandwidth requests from one or more data sources, wherein each bandwidth request includes a data source identifier, an amount of required bandwidth, and a priority identifier that identifies a type of data to be transmitted;   combining the amount of required bandwidth specified by each of the bandwidth requests from the same associated data source to form a data burst bandwidth; and   granting the data burst bandwidth to the associated data source.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 scheduling each bandwidth request in an order to be serviced based on the priority identifier associated with each bandwidth request and an order in which each bandwidth request was received.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the combining includes combining, by data source identifier and priority identifier, the amount of required bandwidth to form the data burst bandwidth; and   wherein the granting includes scheduling the granting of each data burst bandwidth based on quality of service parameters.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the quality of service parameters include at least one of efficiency of transmission and transfer delay tolerance. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 scheduling each bandwidth request in an order to be serviced based on the priority identifier associated with each bandwidth request and an order in which each bandwidth request was received.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communications medium includes at least one of cable, wireless, Internet, intranets and satellite. 
     
     
         7 . A system, comprising:
 a central node; and   a scheduler coupled to the central node,   wherein the scheduler receives bandwidth requests from one or more data sources, each bandwidth request includes a data source identifier, an amount of required bandwidth, and a priority identifier that identifies a type of data to be transmitted,   wherein the scheduler combines bandwidth requests from the same data source to form a data burst bandwidth, and   wherein the scheduler grants the data burst bandwidth to the associated data source.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the scheduler is configured to schedule each bandwidth request in an order to be serviced based on the priority identifier associated with each bandwidth request and an order in which each bandwidth request was received. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the scheduler is configured to combine, by data source identifier and priority identifier, the amount of required bandwidth to form the data burst bandwidth, and configured to schedule the grant of each data burst bandwidth based on quality of service parameters. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the quality of service parameters include at least one of efficiency of transmission and transfer delay tolerance. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the scheduler is further configured to schedule each bandwidth request in an order to be serviced based on the priority identifier associated with each bandwidth request and an order in which each bandwidth request was received. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the communications medium includes at least one of cable, wireless, Internet, intranets and satellite. 
     
     
         13 . A tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:
 receiving, over a communications medium, bandwidth requests from one or more data sources, wherein each bandwidth request includes a data source identifier, an amount of required bandwidth, and a priority identifier that identifies a type of data to be transmitted;   combining the amount of required bandwidth specified by each of the bandwidth requests from the same associated data source to form a data burst bandwidth; and   granting the data burst bandwidth to the associated data source.   
     
     
         14 . The tangible computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
 scheduling each bandwidth request in an order to be serviced based on the priority identifier associated with each bandwidth request and an order in which each bandwidth request was received.   
     
     
         15 . The tangible computer-readable medium of  claim 13 ,
 wherein the combining includes combining, by data source identifier and priority identifier, the amount of required bandwidth to form the data burst bandwidth; and   wherein the granting includes scheduling the granting of each data burst bandwidth based on quality of service parameters.   
     
     
         16 . The tangible computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the quality of service parameters include at least one of efficiency of transmission and transfer delay tolerance. 
     
     
         17 . The tangible computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:
 scheduling each bandwidth request in an order to be serviced based on the priority identifier associated with each bandwidth request and an order in which each bandwidth request was received.   
     
     
         18 . The tangible computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the communications medium includes at least one of cable, wireless, Internet, intranets and satellite.