Patent ID: 7190670
Filing Date: 2007-03-13
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: a server communicating sender information to a client device over a communication path used by the server for communicating information units, the communication path including a packet scheduler followed by a bottleneck link path,the packet scheduler having a buffer for holding the information units as needed, the sender information indicating a last information unit sent to the client, and the server communicating the sender information via a mechanism by which the sender information is communicated over the bottleneck path link ahead of information units already in the buffer of the packet scheduler but not already scheduled to be communicated; the client performing a buffer-size calculation, using the last information unit sent to the client as indicated by the sender information, to estimate the number of information units in the buffer, and using the result of the buffer-size calculation to provide information useful in effecting rate adaptation to control the number of information units in the buffer; and the client communicating to the server over the bottleneck path link the information useful in effecting rate adaptation to control the number of information units in the buffer.