Patent ID: 7068630
Filing Date: 2006-06-27
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. In a packet communication system having a plurality of independently operating nodes, including a first node and a second node, which have limited available communication time and which are capable of monitoring busy time and idle time in cyclical epochs, a method for determining a load on the communication time of the first node with said second node comprising: broadcasting from the first node a first heartbeat and thereupon resetting a global counter at the first node at a first epoch; receiving at the second node said first heartbeat and resetting a second node counter for the first node; transferring traffic of the first node with the second node and accumulating total traffic duration in the global counter at the first node; receiving traffic from the first node at the second node and accumulating second node traffic duration in a first node counter at the second node; broadcasting a second heartbeat from the first node at the beginning of the next epoch, including value of the global counter, and resetting the global counter for a second epoch; receiving the second heartbeat and the global counter value at the second node; and determining a net loading for the first node as viewed by the second node by factoring out contribution to the global counter value during the first epoch.