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EP-4736383-A1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTROUTE THROTTLING IN SATELLITE NETWORKS

EP4736383A1EP 4736383 A1EP4736383 A1EP 4736383A1EP-4736383-A1

Abstract

A system for inroute throttling in a satellite network is disclosed. The system includes an IP Gateway (IPGW) that may compute a volume usage count of inroute traffic associated with a terminal, compare the computed volume usage count of inroute traffic with a first threshold, and transmit, based on the comparison, a Fair Access Policy (FAP) state to the terminal. The FAP state corresponds to one of a throttled and an unthrottled. The system further includes an Inroute Group Manager (IGM) that may receive, from the terminal, the FAP state and apply a FAP, on the inroute traffic from the terminal, corresponding to the received FAP state.

Inventors

  • ROY, SATYAJIT

Assignees

  • Hughes Network Systems, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240523

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A system, comprising: an Internet Protocol Gateway (IPGW) comprising a first processor and a first memory coupled to the first processor, wherein the first memory comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution by the first processor, cause the IPGW to: compute a volume usage count of inroute traffic associated with a terminal; compare the computed volume usage count of the inroute traffic with a first threshold; and transmit, based on the comparison, a fair access policy (FAP) state to the terminal, wherein the FAP state corresponds to one of a throttled and an unthrottled state; and an Inroute Group Manager (IGM) comprising a second processor and a second memory coupled to the second processor, wherein the second memory comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution by the second processor, cause the IGM to: receive, from the terminal, the FAP state; and apply a FAP, on the inroute traffic from the terminal, corresponding to the received FAP state.
  2. 2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first memory comprises processorexecutable instructions, which on execution by the first processor, cause the IPGW to: compute a volume usage count of outroute traffic associated with the terminal; and compare the computed volume usage count of the outroute traffic with a second threshold.
  3. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the FAP state is determined based on: the comparison of the computed volume usage count of the inroute traffic with the first threshold; and the comparison of the computed volume usage count of the outroute traffic with the second threshold.
  4. 4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the FAP state is transmitted as part of a periodic keep-alive message to the terminal.
  5. 5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first memory comprises processorexecutable instructions, which on execution by the first processor, cause the IGM to: receive an inroute part of service plan configuration from a network management system (NMS), wherein the service plan configuration comprises peak and off-peak throttled throughput configurations.
  6. 6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second memory comprises processorexecutable instructions, which on execution by the second processor, cause the IGM to: receive an adaptation message from the terminal responsive to a transition of the FAP state between the throttled and the unthrottled states; and determine a new FAP to be applied on the inroute traffic based on the adaptation message.
  7. 7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the FAP is applied based on a corresponding service plan configuration.
  8. 8. The system of claim 2, wherein the second memory comprises processorexecutable instructions, which on execution by the second processor, cause the IGM to: assign bandwidth to the terminal based at least on one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters comprise the computed volume usage count of the inroute and outroute traffic to and from the terminal, a request for bandwidth received from the terminal, a service plan that is applicable to the terminal, a policing interval, peak or off-peak time configurations, and different levels of subscriptions.
  9. 9. The system of claim 5, wherein the service plan configuration comprises at least one of peak time usage limit and off-peak usage limit, overall limit, and per Class of Service (CoS) limit.
  10. 10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first memory comprises processorexecutable instructions, which on execution by the first processor, cause the IPGW to: receive a set of configurations for throttled inroute throughput values at peak and off-peak time and unthrottled throughput values, wherein the throttled inroute throughput values are based on a type of Quality of Service (QoS) associated with the terminal.
  11. 11. A method, comprising: computing, by an Internet Protocol Gateway (IPGW), a volume usage count of inroute traffic associated with a terminal; comparing, by the IPGW, the computed volume usage count of the inroute traffic with a first threshold; transmitting, by the IPGW, based on the comparison, a fair access policy (FAP) state to the terminal, wherein the FAP state corresponds to one of a throttled and an unthrottled; receiving, by an Inroute Group Manager (IGM), from the terminal, the FAP state; and applying, by the IGM, a FAP corresponding to the received FAP state, on the inroute traffic from the terminal.
  12. 12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: computing, by the IPGW, a volume usage count of outroute traffic associated with the terminal; and comparing, by the IPGW, the computed volume usage count of the outroute traffic with a second threshold.
  13. 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining FAP state based on: the comparison of the computed volume usage count of the inroute traffic with the first threshold; and the comparison of the computed volume usage count of the outroute traffic with the second threshold.
  14. 14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the FAP state is transmitted as part of a periodic keep-alive message to the terminal.
  15. 15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: receiving, by the IGM, an inroute part of service plan configuration from a network management system (NMS), wherein the service plan configuration comprises peak throughput configuration and off-peak throttled throughput configuration.
  16. 16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: receiving, by the IGM, an adaptation message from the terminal responsive to a transition of the FAP state between the throttled and the unthrottled states; and determining, by the IGM, a new FAP to be applied on the inroute traffic based on the adaptation message.
  17. 17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the FAP is applied based on a corresponding service plan configuration.
  18. 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the service plan configuration comprises peak time usage limit and off-peak usage limit, overall limit, and per Class of Service (CoS) limit.
  19. 19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: receiving, by the IPGW, a set of configurations for throttled inroute throughput values at peak and off-peak time and unthrottled throughput values, wherein the throttled inroute throughput values are based on a type of Quality of Service (QoS) associated with the terminal. [Addressed above for claim 10]
  20. 20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions that when executed cause the processor to: compute, at an Internet Protocol Gateway (IPGW), a volume usage count of inroute traffic associated with a terminal; compare, at the IPGW, the computed volume usage count of the inroute traffic with a first threshold; transmit, by the IPGW, based on the comparison, a fair access policy (FAP) state to the terminal, wherein the FAP state corresponds to one of a throttled and an unthrottled; receive, at an Inroute Group Manager (IGM), from the terminal, the FAP state; and apply, by the IGM, a FAP corresponding to the received FAP state, on the inroute traffic from the terminal.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTROUTE THROTTLING IN SATELLITE NETWORKS BACKGROUND [0001] In a shared access network, for example, a broadband satellite network, users may connect to the Internet via a shared wireless channel and a network gateway. The shared wireless channel may provide physical access to the network for a certain number of very small aperture terminals (VSATs), but may have limited capacity, for example, for certain spectrum, some types of modulation and coding schemes. The network gateway may perform tasks, such as, for example, setting up a connection, traffic management and quality of service (QoS) provisioning. In addition, the network gateway may perform other tasks like implementing service plan configurations on the forward direction (outroute) in the satellite network. [0002] Typically, in the return direction (inroute) on the satellite network, VSATs may share an inroute channel with a certain bandwidth when transmitting data. In addition, due to limited bandwidth, an inroute to the network gateway (of the satellite network) may be congested for certain periods of time, for instance. In certain other scenarios, without appropriate inroute traffic regulation, low priority user may block high priority traffic, causing unsatisfied QoS. [0003] Several factors may be considered by the network gateway when allocating bandwidth to the inroute traffic. For instance, the bandwidth may be allocated based on the actual demand for the purposes of efficient spectrum utilization. A VSAT may report its backlog to obtain bandwidth on a return channel for transmitting data. Some traffic classes, for example, interactive traffic, may need to have higher priority than other traffic, such as streaming and bulk traffic, when granting bandwidth, but should not be able to completely block lower priority traffic. When the network is congested, a VSAT may experience degraded QoS, e.g., reduced service rate or longer latency. Fairness criteria or policy (e.g., Fair Access Policy) may require that the reduced service rate be proportional to the VSAT's service plan. In another scenario, a VSAT may be allowed to occupy the whole channel at a scheduled time in order to transmit large sized bursts as per the service plan configuration. [0004] In general, Fair Access Policy (FAP) and traffic throttling are known concepts in communication and networking. For instance, the cellular terrestrial network may support FAP both in the uplink (inroute or return) and the downlink (outroute or forward) directions. Because of the availability of more spectrums and with the advent of 4G and 5G technologies, most of the service providers may provide an unlimited volume usage service to customers. In typical scenarios, most customers may subscribe to unlimited service plans by paying a little extra. [0005] However, such unlimited service plans may not be available in a satellite communication network. There still exists the use case of downlink FAP based on volume usage among consumer services because satellite resources are not available at a large scale and reduced cost, unlike the terrestrial counterpart. Further, given the asymmetric link budget between return and forward channels (e.g., the return channel capacity is typically 1/3rd to 1 /4th of the forward channel capacity), the channel capacity of inroute is significantly lower. Also, the latest trend among users may include more inroute-intensive applications such as, for example, uploading large-size content, streaming uplink video sessions, and other such applications. Existing technologies may not provide efficient inroute FAP and traffic throttling mechanism for satellite communication networks. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide reliable inroute traffic throttling mechanisms in satellite communication networks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0006] FIG. 1 illustrates an operating environment or a network architecture for implementing a system for inroute throttling in a satellite network. [0007] FIG. 2A illustrates a method for inroute throttling in a satellite network using an “Independent Inroute FAP”. [0008] FIG. 2B illustrates a method for inroute throttling in a satellite network using a “Combined Inroute Outroute FAP”. [0009] FIG. 2C illustrates a method for inroute throttling in case of a multi-stage FAP implemented by the IPGW. [0010] FIG. 2D illustrates an example communication method 200d between the terminal and the IGM for inroute throttling. [0011] FIG. 3 illustrates a computer system in which or with which example of the present disclosure may be implemented. [0012] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0013] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of examples of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that examples of the present disclosure