Method and Device for Communicating Data within a Network by Combining Different Communication Approaches

University of Texas at Dallas
posted on 06/23/2010

• request more info 
•   
•  LICENSE ONLINE

Systematic, Automatic and Optimized Method and Device for Communicating Data within a Network by Combining Different Communication Approaches/Protocols

The Technology in Brief

An ever-increasing number of users of electronic devices have dramatically increased the amount of data that is communicated in existing communications networks making the ability to adapt to different protocols efficiently extremely important. The patented invention offers a novel method for communicating data in a network, such as a computer network or a telecommunications network for substantially optimizing data communication by dynamically combining communication-related decisions generated by a set of components in a device in the network.

Background

There is a need to make decisions relating to a wide variety of functions relating to communicating data within a network. For instance, to make network management decisions, decisions for routing data within the network, decisions concerning transmission power levels for transmitting data within the network, whether or not to transmit data at certain times, and queuing policies within a network.

Highly adaptive and scalable MAC (Media Access Control) solutions are required to increase overall network efficiency. The usual approach to handle unknown or changing conditions in most MAC protocols is to include some kind of adaption in order to adjust the operation to the actual network conditions. There are numerous ways known to make MAC protocols adaptive. However, most correspond to ad hoc or inefficient solutions. The patented technology is principally new approach to create adaptive and scalable MAC solutions which combines any set of existing protocols into a single MAC protocol systematically and automatically and has provable optimality properties.

Description of Invention

The invention is a systematic and automatic method to dynamically combine any set of existing MAC protocols into a single higher layer, or meta-MAC protocol. The approach makes it possible to always achieve the performance of the best component protocol, without knowing in advance which protocol will match the potentially changing and unpredictable network conditions. Moreover, the dynamic optimization is entirely automatic and runs without any centralized control or any exchange of messages, using only local network feedback information. The technology is tested through simulation on different types of networks and with different components of MAC protocols. Results demonstrate that the algorithm yields highly adaptive and scalable MAC solutions.

The commercial application of this invention is in any communication network where changing, unknown or partially known conditions make it impossible to know exactly in advance which existing software or hardware component will best work in implementing certain functionality. If the network has a broadcast (multiaccess) channel as the basis of communication, such as local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area network (MANs), satellite networks, and radio networks, then the MAC aggregation can be directly applied for network performance enhancement.

Benefits

·         Systematic and automatic method to combine components

·         Low complexity and highly practical for implementation

·         Could be implemented in hardware and/or software and has low computational overhead

Applications

·         In different types of communication networks such as LAN, MAN, WAN, satellite and radio networks, and related components and devices for network performance enhancement

·         In broadcast/multiaccess channels and related components and devices for network performance enhancement

IP Status

·         United States Patent 7,159,027 Issued Jan. 02, 2007, titled  "Method and device for communicating data within a network by combining different communication approaches"

Inventors

·          Farago Andras, Professor, Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, UT Dallas

·         Syrotiuk Violet R, UT Dallas

Licensing Opportunity

This technology is available for exclusive or non-exclusive licensing.

Please contact: otc@utdallas.edu

Reference No.: UTD-01-004

Browse all available UTD technologies at http://utdallas.technologypublisher.com/