Patent ID: 7855966
Filing Date: 2010-12-21
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. Network congestion detection apparatus with automatic adjustment of bandwidth in response to congestion, comprising: first and second codecs respectively coupled to a network, wherein a session is established for transmitting packets between the codecs and packets are initially transmitted at a bit rate selected from a plurality of initial bit rates, one of said initial bit rates comprising a pre-selected slowest bit rate, and another of said initial bit rates comprising a pre-selected fastest bit rate; a bit rate negotiating component associated with each of said codecs for enabling its associated codec to negotiate transmission bit rates and bit rate changes for said session with the other codec; a congestion indication component for intermittently transmitting congestion control packets during said session, wherein each congestion control packet contains no data, and said congestion indication component further detects a count of missing packets during said session for use in providing a missing packet count, wherein at least one of said missing packets included in said count comprises one of said congestion control packets; a threshold device comprising a slowdown threshold component for comparing the missing packet count with a slowdown threshold, and in response to determining that the missing packet count is greater than the slowdown threshold, at a time when the transmission bit rate is greater than said pre-selected slowest bit rate, causing said first codec and said second codec to negotiate a lower transmission bit rate; and the threshold device further comprises a speedup threshold component for comparing the missing packet count with a speedup threshold, and in response to determining that the missing packet count is less than the speedup threshold, at a time when the transmission bit rate is less than said pre-selected fastest bit rate, causing said first codec and said second codec to negotiate a higher transmission bit rate.