Patent ID: 9363202
Filing Date: 2016-06-07
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: providing a plurality of upstream channels, wherein one or more of the plurality of upstream channels are used to carry upstream communications from one or more subscriber devices to a cable modem termination system; assigning a first subset of the plurality of upstream channels for communication of short upstream packets on a network; assigning a second subset of the plurality of upstream channels for communication of all other upstream packets on the network, wherein the second subset of the plurality of upstream channels comprises the remainder of the plurality of upstream channels that are not included within the first subset of the plurality of upstream channels; wherein the assignment of each respective one upstream channel of the plurality of upstream channels to the first subset or the second subset is not based upon the bandwidth of the respective one upstream channel; receiving, at the cable modem termination system, one or more transmission requests from one or more of the one or more subscriber devices; determining, at the cable modem termination system, whether each respective one of the transmission requests comprises a short packet request; for each respective one of the one or more subscriber devices from which a transmission request is received, scheduling, at the cable modem termination system, a transmission opportunity for the respective one subscriber device, wherein the transmission opportunity comprises an identification of one of the one or more upstream channels along which the respective one subscriber device is to output a transmission associated with a respective transmission request; and communicating transmission opportunities from the cable modem termination system to the one or more subscriber devices, whereby subscriber devices from which short packet requests are received are allocated transmission opportunities in the first subset of the plurality of upstream channels, and subscriber devices from which are received transmission requests determined not to comprise a short packet request are allocated transmission opportunities in the second subset of the plurality of upstream channels.