Generic quality of service protocol and architecture for user applications in multiple transport protocol environments

Abstract

A generic quality of service (“G-QoS”) protocol and architecture for applications executing in multiple transport protocol environments is provided. G-QoS negotiators establish a QoS level for user applications by communicating over a network and exchanging network and application data via a G-QoS protocol that can be implemented using out-of-band ICMP messages. A Dynamic Profile Management Algorithm (“DPMA”) allows the G-QoS negotiators to negotiate, establish, and maintain the desired QoS level between the user applications by providing real-time monitoring of application parameters including bandwidth, buffer, and cache status information of the communicating client and server. A G-QoS applications programmer interface (“API”) allows network administrators to easily monitor and maintain the overall G-QoS architecture of the present invention. The G-QoS negotiators, G-QoS protocol, and DPMA form a generic QoS architecture that provides guaranteed QoS for user applications.

1 . A generic quality of service protocol comprising: 
 an ICMP header for transmitting the protocol as an out-of-band message;    a client information storage unit;    a proxy information storage unit;    an application profile information storage unit;    means for storing transport QoS profile information;    means for storing per-protocol QoS profile information; and    means for storing QoS map order information.    
     
     
         2 . The protocol of  claim 1  wherein said client information storage unit further comprises: 
 means for storing operating system type information;    means for storing workstation configuration information;    means for storing processor architecture information; and    means for storing network architecture information.    
     
     
         3 . The protocol of  claim 1  wherein said proxy information storage unit further comprises: 
 means for storing proxy IP addresses; and    means for storing proxy port numbers.    
     
     
         4 . The protocol of  claim 1  wherein said application profile information storage unit further comprises: 
 means for storing application source information;    means for storing application class information;    means for storing application bandwidth requirements;    means for storing data transfer rates; and    means for storing response times.    
     
     
         5 . The protocol of  claim 1  wherein said means for storing transport QoS profile information further comprises: 
 means for storing protocol available client protocols; and    means for storing server protocol grants.    
     
     
         6 . The protocol of  claim 1  wherein said means for storing per-protocol QoS profile information further comprises: 
 means for storing ATM connection information; and    means for storing ATM address information.    
     
     
         7 . A generic quality of service (QoS) protocol for use with a client machine and a server machine comprising: 
 an ICMP header configured to contain data for transmitting the protocol as an out-of-band message;    a client information header portion configured to store information indicative of processing capabilities of a client machine;    a proxy information header portion configured to store information related to a proxy unit, if any, communicatively coupled to the client machine or the server machine;    an application profile information header portion configured to store information indicative of operational parameters related to an application to be executed on the client machine or the server machine;    a transport header portion configured to store transport QoS profile information indicative of transport protocols available for communication between the client machine and the server machine;    a per-protocol header portion configured to store per-protocol QoS profile information indicative of communication protocols corresponding to at least a portion of the available transport protocols; and    a map order header portion configured to store QoS map order information indicative of a mapping of selected QoS server profiles determined via a negotiation process.    
     
     
         8 . The protocol of  claim 7  wherein the client information header portion containing information indicative of processing capabilities of the client machine includes capability data selected from a group of capabilities comprising: 
 a sub-portion configured to store operating system type information;    a sub-portion configured to store workstation configuration information;    a sub-portion configured to store processor architecture information; and    a sub-portion configured to store network architecture information.    
     
     
         9 . The protocol of  claim 7  wherein the proxy information header portion containing information related to a proxy unit, if any, communicatively coupled to the client machine or the server machine includes proxy information selected from a group of information comprising: 
 a sub-portion configured to store proxy IP addresses; and    a sub-portion configured to store proxy port numbers.    
     
     
         10 . The protocol of  claim 7  wherein the application profile information header portion containing information indicative of operational parameters related to an application to be executed on the client machine or the server machine includes application information selected from a group of information comprising: 
 a sub-portion configured to store application source information;    a sub-portion configured to store application class information;    a sub-portion configured to store application bandwidth requirements;    a sub-portion configured to store data transfer rates; and    a sub-portion configured to store response times.    
     
     
         11 . The protocol of  claim 7  wherein the transport header portion configured to contain transport QoS profile information indicative of transport protocols available for communication between the client machine and the server machine is selected from a group of profile information comprising: 
 a sub-portion configured to store protocol available client protocols; and    a sub-portion configured to store server protocol grants.    
     
     
         12 . The protocol of  claim 7  wherein the per-protocol header portion configured to contain per-protocol QoS profile information indicative of communication protocols corresponding to at least a portion of the available transport protocols is selected from a group of per-protocol information comprising: 
 a sub-portion configured to store ATM connection information; and    a sub-portion configured to store ATM address information.