Method and apparatus of performing a multi-channel data transmission

Disclosed are an apparatus and method of performing a data channel change-over procedure. One example method of operation may include detecting an abnormality in an active data communication channel established between at least two endpoint devices. The method may further provide selecting a next available data communication channel based on at least one data channel metric and transmitting at least one change-over message via an active control channel established between the at least two endpoints. The method may further include transmitting subsequent data messages over the next available data communication channel.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus of performing multi-channel data transmission, and more particularly to optimizing connection channel use when performing multi-channel data transmission functionality.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Communication sessions may be established between two or more devices operating in a data networking environment. In certain instances those communication sessions may be setup between third party network elements which perform relay functions for the corresponding network devices. Multi-channel data transmission functions are based on more than one type of channel. For example, a control channel and a data channel may be used concurrently to perform a relay function. Current data transmission performed in data networks may be susceptible to connection loss, such as unexpected connection drops and lost communication sessions. This invention presents a method that uses multi-channel data transmission to provide fault tolerance in case of a connection failure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An example embodiment of the present invention may include a method of performing a data channel change-over procedure. The method may include detecting an abnormality in an active data communication channel established between at least two endpoint devices. The method may also include selecting a next available data communication channel based on at least one data channel metric, transmitting at least one change-over message via an active control channel established between the at least two endpoints, and transmitting subsequent data messages over the next available data communication channel.

Another example embodiment of the present invention may include an apparatus configured to perform a data channel change-over procedure. The apparatus may include a processor configured to detect an abnormality in an active data communication channel established between at least two endpoint devices, and select a next available data communication channel based on at least one data channel metric. The apparatus may also include a transmitter configured to transmit at least one change-over message via an active control channel established between the at least two endpoints, and transmit subsequent data messages over the next available data communication channel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In addition, while the term “message” has been used in the description of embodiments of the present invention, the invention may be applied to many types of network data, such as, packet, frame, datagram, etc. For purposes of this invention, the term “message” also includes packet, frame, datagram, and any equivalents thereof. Furthermore, while certain types of messages and signaling are depicted in exemplary embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited to a certain type of message, and the invention is not limited to a certain type of signaling.

The term ‘admin’ may refer to a client side of the communication process. ‘Agent’ may refer to a server side of the communication process. A ‘control channel’ is a channel through which connection initiations, terminations, and change-overs are performed. A ‘data channel’ is a channel through which the actual client side data flows. A ‘peer-to-peer communication session’ is a direct connection between two endpoints without an intermediate relay server. TCP is a transmission control protocol used to establish a communication session. Change-over is a procedure used to change-over from one data stream to another data stream and/or one connection to another connection for sending/receiving data.

Example embodiments of the present invention may provide optimized stability of a data communication channel setup and corresponding procedure. Multi-channel relay generally uses two or more channels. In a two-channel approach, the first channel may be a control channel, and the second channel may be a data channel. The application data would be transferred from one network device to another network device through a separate data channel based on the availability of such a channel. A control channel may be used to setup and maintain connection initiations, terminations, changeovers, etc.

FIG. 1illustrates a conventional communication session100. Referring toFIG. 1, there are a number of channels established between the two endpoint devices102and104. For example, a first relay connection including channels144and154, a second relay connection including channels142and152, and/or a combination of peer-to-peer channels110. All the connection messages and application messages are routed through the same channel. For example, a relay connection including channels144and154channels would transfer both connection and application messages. In the event of a failure of a selected channel (144and154), no data can be transferred through other available channels since the control channels144and154are down. Because of the absence of a “standalone” control channel, the session cannot synchronize after the last failure and proceed with communications from where it left off prior to the failure.

FIG. 2illustrates an example multi-channel data transmission configuration according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG. 2, the peer-to-peer relay configuration200may include peer-to-peer connections210that are established between two or more network entities communicating over the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wireless network, a wired-line network, etc. In this particular configuration, relay servers220and222may provide data channel and/or control channel redundancy for the peer-to-peer communication session. The control channel210may be setup first as a virtual connection between two endpoints202and204operating on two separate sub-networks240and250, respectively, which is preferably a relay connection due to its stability, availability and network compatibility. The active data channel242and the active control channel244may be selected based on their throughput, latency and other network-based considerations and factors (e.g., fastest path, most reliable path, most available path, etc.).

Relay connections252and254may require maintenance messaging, ongoing communication messaging, checkup procedures, etc., in order to maintain and establish an active communication sessions. A robust relay system would be tolerant to abnormal activity, such as connection failures, increases and/or decreases in latency, error messages, etc. During abnormal data channel failures, a data channel change-over mechanism may be performed through the active control channel244to initiate and/or execute a change-over procedure to another data channel (i.e., new data channel, alternate data channel, concurrent data channel, etc.). A client side (admin) may be used to decide the next best available data channel based on throughput and latency measurements and auditing procedures. The client side may initiate a change-over process by transferring messages through the active control channel244.

Channels may cache the last few messages in a queue whenever the connection drops, the new data channel would start from where the previous data channel stopped before the failure. At the start of a session, the connection between the ADMIN and the AGENT sides are made through the relay servers220and222. This connection would be used as both control and data channels. Multiple connections may be obtained through other relay servers, parallel TCP based peer-to-peer connections, and UDP hole punching based peer-to-peer connections.

The best data channel having a highest throughput and low latency should be selected based on one or more bandwidth tests performed over the channel. A change-over process would be initiated through the control channel to change-over to the best available data channel. After a successful negotiation, the data is transferred through the best available data channel. Each channel would cache the last few messages that it sent on a particular queue. By caching the last few messages whenever the active or current data channel fails, the change-over data channel could resume service from where the previous data channel stopped.

A change-over message may contain a sequence number of the last received message from either of the two endpoints102and104, the new data channel would begin sending messages from the sequence number that it received through the change-over message. In case of a failure of the control channel112, the next available relay connection is selected as the control channel. If no relay connection is available, a non-active data channel would be selected as the next control channel. If no non-active data channel is available, the active data channel would be designated as both the control and data channels. Thereafter, the next available channel would become the next control channel. A data channel may be selected on the basis of one or more channel metrics (e.g., channel bandwidth capacity, channel data throughput (Mbps), channel latency (delays), channel availability (downtime vs. uptime)).

The current session may refresh and/or be restarted in the case of no more connections being available to change-over after a failure. The control channel112may be setup first. A relay connection may be used for a control channel due to its stability and security. The control messages may be relatively short as compared to data messages. Fixing the control channel provides the flexibility to select the best data channel for subsequent data transfers. If the best channel is selected as both a control and data channel, then a change-over mechanism may not be performed during a connection failure. The granularity of a message queue mechanism for resending data would be performed at application level messages and not at the TCP packets. It would complicate the system to implement a retransmission protocol at the TCP packets level. After a changeover, the failed data channel can attempt to reconnect in the background. The multi-channel communication session would work with little delay (due to the change-over) as compared to a reconnect-based solution which might or might not succeed in reconnecting at all. Obviously, reconnection based solutions would incur a large delay once a failure takes place. As a result, the reconnection-based solution creates a lot of overhead.

FIG. 3illustrates an example multi-channel data transmission system300according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG. 3, the relay system300may perform a data channel change-over procedure from an active data communication channel to a new data communication channel. The data transmission system300may detect an abnormality in an active data communication channel established between at least two endpoint devices via a channel monitoring engine320. A channel selection engine330may be used to select a next available data communication channel based on at least one data channel metric including any one or more of a channel bandwidth capacity, a channel data throughput, a channel latency, and a channel availability. The relay system300may then transmit a change-over message via an active control channel established between the endpoints and transmit subsequent data messages over the next available data communication channel.

According to one example, the active control channel may be the same as the active data channel, or instead the active control channel may be different from the active data channel. The active control channel and the active data communication channel are relay connections that connect to a relay server located between the at least two endpoint devices. The relay system300may establish an initial connection between the two endpoint devices, the initial connection may be used to communicate control messages and data messages prior to establishing the initial data communication channel and the active control channel. The relay system300may cache a number of recently transmitted messages transmitted through the initial data communication channel and/or the active control channel in a message cache database340. In the event that the new channel is selected, the data retrieval engine310may retrieve the recently transmitted messages from the cache prior to transmitting subsequent data messages over the next available data communication channel to determine a point where the previously active data communication channel stopped transmitting data messages.

As illustrated inFIG. 4, a memory410and a processor420may be discrete components of the network entity400that are used to execute an application or set of operations. The application may be coded in software in a computer language understood by the processor420, and stored in a computer readable medium, such as, the memory410. The computer readable medium may be a non-transitory computer readable medium that includes tangible hardware components in addition to software stored in memory. Furthermore, a software module430may be another discrete entity that is part of the network entity400, and which contains software instructions that may be executed by the processor420. In addition to the above noted components of the network entity400, the network entity400may also have a transmitter and receiver pair configured to receive and transmit communication signals (not shown).

FIG. 5illustrates one example method of operation according to example embodiments of the present invention which may include a method500of performing a data channel change-over procedure. The method may include detecting an abnormality in an active data communication channel established between at least two endpoint devices at operation502and selecting a next available data communication channel based on at least one data channel metric at operation504. The method may also include transmitting at least one change-over message via an active control channel established between the at least two endpoints at operation506and transmitting subsequent data messages over the next available data communication channel at operation508.