Patent · US Active

Bandwidth management in an advanced metering infrastructure

US8830830B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
12References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 9, 2012
Grant dateSep 9, 2014
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 6, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L47/12
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In a network environment, a node may measure and/or recognize network activity or congestion and send feedback to downstream nodes (i.e., higher rank nodes) in response. During periods of lower network activity, lower congestion and/or lower network load, the feedback may direct an upstream flow of packets to be transmitted at a quality of service (QoS) level that allows consumption of more bandwidth than is indicated by a QoS level associated with a service level agreement (SLA) of the upstream flow of packets. During periods of higher network activity, congestion and/or network load, the feedback may limit the upstream flow of packets to the QoS level associated with the SLA of the upstream flow of packets. Accordingly, an upstream node (e.g., a root node) may use feedback to regulate bandwidth used by one or more downstream nodes and/or flows of packets, in part using network activity, congestion and/or bandwidth availability.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.