Measurement-based connection admission control (MBAC) device for a packet data network

Abstract

The present invention proposes a measurement-based connection admission control device for a packet data network, comprising at least one measurement module adapted to measure packet data traffic in said packet data network and to output corresponding measurement results; at least one estimation module adapted to perform an estimation to obtain an estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic based on said measurement results, and an admission control module adapted to admit a requested new connection in said packet data network based on the estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic.

1. A measurement-based connection admission control device for a packet data network, comprising
 at least one measurement module to measure packet data traffic in said packet data network and to output corresponding measurement results, said measurement module comprises counting means which measure the packet data traffic on a per packet basis by counting data packets; 
 at least one estimation module to perform an estimation to obtain an estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic based on said measurement results, and 
 an admission control module to admit a requested new connection in said packet data network based on the estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic, 
 wherein said measurement result interface further comprises a measurement result ready indicator adapted to be set by said measurement module and to be read by said at least one estimation module, and wherein said at least one estimation module copies results indicated to be ready by said ready indicator from said a commonly used memory area for being processed by said estimation module. 
 
     
     
       2. A device according to  claim 1 , wherein said ready indicator is set after a longest measurement interval has passed. 
     
     
       3. A device according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least one estimation module resets a partition of the commonly used memory area holding the copied results after the results have been copied. 
     
     
       4. A device according to  claim 1 , wherein said ready indicator is a queue. 
     
     
       5. A device according to  claim 2 , wherein said ready indicator is a queue. 
     
     
       6. A measurement-based connection admission control device for a packet data network, comprising
 at least one measurement module to measure packet data traffic in said packet data network and to output corresponding measurement results, said measurement module comprises counting means which measure the packet data traffic on a per packet basis by counting data packets; 
 at least one estimation module to perform an estimation to obtain an estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic based on said measurement results, and 
 an admission control module to admit a requested new connection in said packet data network based on the estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic, wherein a reading operation from said counting means and an update operation of previously measured results is prioritized, so that stability of the device under processor overload situations is achieved. 
 
     
     
       7. A device according to  claim 6 , wherein
 a respective one of said at least one measurement module is associated to a respective one of said at least one estimation module, and 
 each of said at least one of said associated measurement and estimation modules is spatially distributed to a corresponding switching unit of a switch device of said packet data network. 
 
     
     
       8. A device according to  claim 6 , wherein said measurement and estimation modules respectively associated to each other are coupled via a measurement result interface comprising a commonly used memory area. 
     
     
       9. A device according to  claim 7 , wherein said measurement and estimation modules respectively associated to each other are coupled via a measurement result interface comprising a commonly used memory area. 
     
     
       10. A device according to  claim 6 , wherein said admission control module controls a switch device of said packet data network and requests the at least one estimation module to report a current state of connections, and said admission control module takes an admission decision based on said report. 
     
     
       11. A device according to  claim 6 , wherein said measurement result interface further comprises a measurement result ready indicator set by said measurement module and to be read by said estimation module, and wherein said estimation module copies results indicated to be ready by said ready indicator from said commonly used memory area for being processed by said estimation module. 
     
     
       12. A device according to  claim 11 , wherein said ready indicator is set after a longest measurement interval has passed. 
     
     
       13. A device according to  claim 11 , wherein said at least one estimation module resets a partition of the memory area holding the copied results after the results have been copied. 
     
     
       14. A device according to  claim 11 , wherein said ready indicator is a queue. 
     
     
       15. A method for admitting a requested new connection in a packet data network, the method comprising:
 measuring packet data traffic in a packet data network on a per packet basis by counting data packets;   providing an indication that measurement results are ready;   copying measurement results from a commonly used memory area when the measurement results are indicated to be ready;   performing an estimation to obtain an estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic based on the measurement results; and   admitting a requested new connection in the packet data network based on the estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic.   
     
     
       16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the indication that measurement results are ready is set after a longest measurement interval has passed. 
     
     
       17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising resetting a partition of the commonly used memory holding copied measurement results after the measurement results have been copied.  
     
     
       18. A method for controlling a measurement-based connection for a packet data network, the method comprising:
 measuring packet data traffic in a packet data network on a per packet basis by counting data packets;   performing an estimation to obtain an estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic based on the measurement results;   admitting a requested new connection in the packet data network based on the estimated maximal rate envelope of traffic; and   prioritizing a reading operation in counting data packets and an updating operation of previously measured results.   
     
     
       19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising reporting a current state of connections and making an admission decision based on the current state. 
     
     
       20. The method according to claim 18, copying measurement results from a commonly used memory area when the measurement results are indicated to be ready. 
     
     
       21. The method according to claim 18, further comprising providing an indication that measurement results are ready. 
     
     
       22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the indication that measurement results are ready is set after a longest measurement interval has passed. 
     
     
       23. The method according to claim 18, further comprising copying measurement results from a commonly used memory area when the measurement results are indicated to be ready. 
     
     
       24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising resetting a partition of the commonly used memory holding copied measurement results after the measurement results have been copied.