System and method for assigning information categories to multicast groups

Abstract

A system and method for determining an efficient assignment of information categories to multicast addresses is described. In one embodiment, the assignment takes into account the overlapping information needs of the subscriber nodes and the network bandwidth that will be consumed in the dissemination of each information category based on its size and the frequency of dissemination. In another embodiment, the assignment takes into consideration the additional constraint of a quality of service network having different prioritizations associated with the information categories.

1 . A method for assigning an information category to a multicast address in a network, comprising the steps of:
 accessing a plurality of information categories, a plurality of subscribers, and a plurality of multicast addresses associated with the network;   generating a plurality of assignment solutions, each assignment solution having a plurality of assignments, each assignment assigning a select information category to a select multicast address, each assignment solution having a wastage penalty; and   selecting an assignment solution as a final assignment solution, the final assignment solution having a lower wastage penalty than most other assignment solutions.   
     
     
         2 .- 3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the steps of:
 accessing a plurality of unwanted category data, each unwanted category data associated with a select subscriber and a select information category, each unwanted category data indicating that the select subscriber is assigned to receive the select information category and the select subscriber does not need it; and 
 calculating the wastage penalty for each assignment solution as a function of the unwanted category data. 
 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 associating a bandwidth factor with each information category, the bandwidth factor representing a weight indicative of a size of the associated information category and frequency of dissemination; and   wherein the calculating step calculates the wastage penalty for each assignment solution as a function of the bandwidth factor for each information category.   
     
     
         7 .- 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . A system for assigning information categories to multicast addresses in a network, comprising:
 a plurality of subscribers;   a plurality of multicast addresses, each multicast address associated with one or more subscribers;   a plurality of information categories, each information category associated with one or more subscribers and one or more multicast addresses;   a plurality of assignments, each assignment assigning a select information category to a select multicast address;   a plurality of assignment solutions, each assignment solution including an assignment for each information category; and   a planner, comprising:
 an assignment procedure including instructions for generating the plurality of assignment solutions and selecting a final assignment solution, each assignment solution associated with a wastage penalty, the final assignment solution having a lower wastage penalty than most other assignment solutions. 
   
     
     
         10 .- 11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 ,
 wherein the wastage penalty is a function of assignments made to any subscriber not interested in an information category that is assigned to the subscriber.   
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having instructions for:
 accessing a set of k subscribers, S={s 1 , . . . ,s k }, a set of m information categories C={c 1 , . . . ,c m }, a set of n addresses, A={a 1 , . . . ,a n }, a set of m bandwidth factors, B={b 1 , . . . ,b m }, each bandwidth factor associated with a select infounation category, each bandwidth factor representing a weight associated with disseminating messages in the select information category;   generating a plurality of assignment solutions, each assignment solution, M(C,A), having a set of assignments, where each assignment, M(c,a), assigns information category c to an address a, each assignment solution having one or more wasted assignments, each wasted assignment representing subscriber s assigned to receive information category c for which subscriber s does not need, each assignment solution having a wastage penalty, the wastage penalty is a function of the wasted assignments and the set of bandwidth factors; and   selecting a select one of the assignment solutions as a final assignment solution based on the wastage penalty of the final assignment solution.   
     
     
         15 .- 19 . (canceled)