Patent Publication Number: US-2023163875-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for packet wash in networks

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/206,524 filed on Mar. 19, 2020, by Futurewei Technologies, Inc., and titled “Method and Apparatus for Packet Wash in Networks,” which is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2019/045991 filed on Aug. 9, 2019, by Futurewei Technologies, Inc., and titled “Method and Apparatus for Packet Wash in Networks,” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/739,736 filed Oct. 1, 2018 by Renwei Li, et al. and titled “Method and Apparatus for Packet Wash in Networks.” The aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure is generally related to network communications, and specifically to a method and apparatus for packet wash in networks. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Communication systems are known to support wireless and wired communications between wireless and/or wired communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks to radio frequency identification (RFID) systems to radio frequency radar systems. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, radio frequency (RF) wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, RFID, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11x, Bluetooth, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), and/or variations thereof. 
     Packetized communications between devices may be corrupted due to signal path problems, network loading, and/or by a number of other issues. Many packetized communications support confirmations of successful receipt of packets. When confirmation of successful receipt of a packet by a sending network node is not received, the packet is retransmitted by the sending network node until successful receipt is acknowledged or a maximum retransmission time is reached. Retransmission requirements waste network resources and increase communication latency. 
     SUMMARY 
     A first aspect relates to a method, performed by an intermediary network node, for communicating a data packet. The method includes receiving, by the intermediary network node, a data packet that supports a packet wash operation. The method determines whether the data packet can be forwarded along a network path towards a destination node without any modification. If the data packet cannot be forwarded along the network path towards the destination node without modification, the method determines whether conditions are met for performing the packet wash operation on the data packet. If the conditions are met for performing the packet wash operation on the data packet, the method performs the packet wash operation on the data packet to generate a washed data packet. The packet wash operation modifies a size of a payload of the data packet based on a packet wash specification that associates attributes to a plurality of data payload portions of the payload of the data packet. The washed data is forwarded along the network path towards the destination node. 
     In a first implementation form of the method according to the first aspect, if the data packet can be forwarded along a network path towards a destination node without any modification, the method forwards the data packet along the network path towards the destination node without any modification. 
     In a second implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, if the data packet cannot be forwarded along the network path towards the destination node without any modification, and the conditions are not met for performing the packet wash operation on the data packet, the method requests retransmission of the data packet. 
     In a third implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the method provides an indication within the washed data packet that identifies data that was removed from the data packet to generate the wash data packet. 
     In a fourth implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the conditions include a network congestion level. 
     In a fifth implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the conditions include a transmission error. 
     In a sixth implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the conditions include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error. 
     In a seventh implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the conditions include a buffer threshold level. 
     In an eighth implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the conditions include the data packet exceeding a Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) of the network node, wherein the packet wash operation drops insignificant bytes from the data packet to generate the washed data packet, and the washed data packet is within the MTU of the network node. 
     In a ninth implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the attributes for a data payload portion include a priority level of the data payload portion. 
     In a tenth implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the attributes for a data payload portion include a binary value indicating whether the data payload portion can be dropped by the packet wash operation. 
     In a eleventh implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the packet wash operation reduces a size of the data packet by removing at least one data payload portion from the payload of data packet, wherein the at least one data payload portion is selected for removal based on the attributes assigned to the plurality of data payload portions of the data packet. 
     In a twelfth implementation form of the first aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the first aspect, the packet wash operation increases a size of the data packet by restoring at least one data payload portion from the payload of data packet that was previously removed by a prior intermediate network node along the forwarding path. 
     A second aspect relates to a method, performed by a source network node, for communicating a data packet. The method includes determining, by the source node, whether information can be broken down and packed with different attributes into a payload of a data packet. The method creates a packet wash operation specification that specifies details for breaking the information into a plurality of data payload portions, the packet wash operation specification associates particular attributes with each data payload portion. The method indicates in the data packet that the data packet supports a packet wash operation that modifies a size of the payload of the data packet based on the particular attributes associated the plurality of data payload portions. The method transmits the data packet along a network path towards a destination node. 
     In a first implementation form of the method according to the second aspect, the packet wash specification is created by an application executing on the source node. 
     In a second implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the method passes, using an application programming interface (API), the packet wash specification from the application to a network stack of the source node for enabling the network stack to create the data packet comprising the plurality of data payload portions based on the packet wash specification. 
     In a third implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the particular attributes for a data payload portion include a priority level of the data payload portion. 
     In a fourth implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the method provides conditions to intermediary network nodes that specify when the intermediary network nodes can perform the packet wash operation on the data packet. 
     In a fifth implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the method performs encryption on each individual data payload portion of the data packet. 
     In a sixth implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the method performs a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) on each individual data payload portion of the data packet. 
     In a seventh implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the method provides an offset of each data payload portion of the data packet. 
     In an eighth implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the conditions that specify when intermediary network nodes can perform the packet wash operation on the data packet include a network congestion level. 
     In a ninth implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the conditions that specify when intermediary network nodes can perform the packet wash operation on the data packet include a buffer threshold level. 
     In a tenth implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, wherein the packet wash operation reduces a size of the data packet by removing at least one data payload portion of information from the data packet, wherein the at least one data payload portion of information selected for removal is based on the particular attributes assigned to the plurality of data payload portions of the data packets. 
     In a eleventh implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the method receives a request to retransmit the data packet only in response to the data packet missing a data payload portion of information that is categorized as being significant. 
     In a twelfth implementation form of the second aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the second aspect, the method indicates that the data packet supports the packet wash operation by inserting the packet wash specification into the data packet. 
     A third aspect relates to a method perform by a destination node. The method includes receiving a data packet that supports the packet wash operation. The method extracts a payload and a packet wash specification from the packet. The method determines whether the packet wash operation was performed on the data packet by an intermediary network node using the packet wash specification. 
     In a first implementation form of the method according to the third aspect, the method determines whether to request retransmission of the data packet based on the extracted payload and the packet wash specification. 
     In a second implementation form of the third aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of the third aspect, the method transmits a request to a source node to retransmit the data packet only in response to a determination that the data packet is missing a data payload portion that is categorized as being significant. 
     A fourth aspect relates to an apparatus comprising memory and a processor configured to execute instructions for implementing any preceding aspect as such or any preceding implementation form of any preceding aspect. 
     For the purpose of clarity, any one of the foregoing implementation forms may be combined with any one or more of the other foregoing implementations to create a new embodiment within the scope of the present disclosure. These embodiments and other features will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts. 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication network. 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram illustrating a data packet. 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram illustrating a data packet that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram illustrating a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a source node for communicating a data packet that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a network node for communicating a data packet that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  7    is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a destination node when receiving a data packet that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  8    is a schematic diagram of a node device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It should be understood at the outset that although an illustrative implementation of one or more embodiments are provided below, the disclosed systems and/or methods may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence. The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, including the exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and described herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents. 
     The present disclosure provides various embodiments for reducing the need for packet retransmission. In particular, the present disclosure describes a packet wash operation, which enables intermediary routers or network nodes to modifying a size of a data packet en route by dropping insignificant data payload portions of the payload of the data packet, or by adding or restoring a data payload portion to the payload of the data packet. The latency of packet delivery can be significantly reduced due to the absence of re-transmissions, and smaller packet size after partial payload drops. Additional benefits of the disclosed embodiments can be ascertained from the following description. 
       FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram illustrating a process  100  for communicating data between a source node  110  and a destination node  120  over a communication network  130 . The source node  110  and destination node  120  can be any type of electronic device capable of communicating over the communication network  130  such as, but not limited to, a mobile communication device, an Internet of things (IoT) device, a personal computer, a server, a router, a mainframe, a database, or any other type of user or network device. For example, the source node  110  can be a media server, and the destination node  120  can be a mobile device that receives media content from the source node  110 . 
     In the depicted embodiment, the source node  110  executes one or more programs/applications (APP)  102 . The application  102  can be any type of software application. The application  102  produces or generates data  104 . Data  104  can be any type of data depending on the functions of the application  102 . The data  104  can be data that is automatically produced and pushed by the source node  110  to the destination node  120 . Alternatively, the data  104  can be data that is specifically requested from the source node  110  by the destination node  120 . To communicate the data  104  to the destination node  120 , the application  102  on the source node  110  uses an application programming interface (API) to communicate the data  104  to a transport layer  106  of the source node  110 . The transport layer  106  is responsible for delivering the data  104  to the appropriate application  116  on the destination node  120 . The transport layer  106  bundles/organizes the data into data packets  112  according to a specific protocol (i.e., packetization). For instance, the transport layer  106  may use various communication protocols such as, but not limited to, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) for providing host-to-host communication services such as connection-oriented communication, reliability, flow control, and multiplexing. 
     The data packets  112  are transferred to a network layer  108  of the source node  110 . The network layer  108  is responsible for packet forwarding including routing of the data packets  112  through one or intermediate routers or network nodes  114  of the communication network  130 . The communication network  130  can comprise multiple interconnected networks including a local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), a wireless or mobile network, and an inter-network (e.g., the Internet). When the data packets  112  reach the destination node  120 , data  104  is extracted from the data packets  112  (i.e., depacketized) and passed to the application  116  on the destination node  120 . 
       FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a data packet  200  that can be communicated over the communication network  130  of  FIG.  1   . The data packet  200  is similar to the data packet  112  of  FIG.  1   . The data packet  200  includes an Internet protocol (IP) header (IP HDR)  202  and a payload  204 . The IP HDR  202  contains routing information and information (e.g., an identification tag) that enables the data packets  200  to be reassembled after transmission to produce the data  104 . For instance, IP networks, such as the Internet, are normally not secure, so the data packet  200  can be lost, can be delayed, and can arrive in the wrong order. The identification tag helps to identify the data packet  200  and to reassemble the data  104  back to its original form. The IP HDR  202  can also contain a checksum and a time to live (TTL) value. The checksum is used for error detection and correction during packet transmission. The TTL value is used to reduce redundant packets in the communication network  130 . The payload  204  of the data packet  200  contains the actual data being carried by the data packet  200 . 
     Currently, within the communication network  130  (e.g., the Internet) packet forwarding is performed based on quality of service (QoS) techniques. The QoS function ensures that data packets  200  that are marked with higher priority are scheduled earlier than data packets  200  that are marked with lower or normal priorities. As a consequence, if outgoing buffers or queues of a network node  114  are full, the lower priority data packets  200  get completely dropped. Any error, due to link congestion or intermittent packet loss in the communication network  130 , can trigger re-transmission of the data packets  200 . Re-transmission of the data packets  200  wastes network resources, reduces the overall throughput of the connection, and causes longer latency for the packet delivery. Not only does the re-transmitted packet have to travel part of the routing path twice, but the source node  110  would not realize the data packets  200  have been dropped until one of the above three scenarios happens, which also adds to the extended waiting time at the source node  110  before the re-transmission is initiated. The result is that there can be unpredictable delays in the destination node  120  receiving the data packets  200 , a significant increase in the network load of the communication network  130 , and network resources/capacity waste. Emerging network applications, such as holographic telepresence, tactile Internet, etc. require extremely low latency. Thus, the current way of handling the packet error or network congestion by discarding the data packet  200  entirely is not optimal. 
     To alleviate the above problem, the disclosed embodiments introduce a packet wash operation into the communication network  130 . The packet wash operation is a function performed by a network node  114  to modify a size of a data packet by removing a discardable data payload portion or data payload portions of the data (e.g., least-significant bytes) from the packet payload, or by adding or restoring a data payload portion of the data from the packet payload, while the data packet is en route from a source node to a destination node. A discardable data payload portion a is data within the payload that has been flagged or identified as being less significant, not required, and/or data that can be recovered from the payload of other data packets (e.g., redundant data such as color or a background image). With the proper packetization methods as described herein, the network nodes  114  may be able to understand the importance/significance/relationship of each byte in the data packet. Thus, based on the current network condition such as, but not limited to, congestion level, queue length, urgency of the data packet (which may be indicated the metadata of the data packet), the network nodes  114  can decide which byte(s) in the data packet can be dropped while keeping as much of data as possible. 
       FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram illustrating a data packet  300  that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The data packet  300  includes the IP HDR  202 , a packet wash (PW) specification  206 , and the payload  204 . In an embodiment, the source node  110  creates the PW specification  206 . The PW specification  206  describes the significance of the bytes or data payload portions of the payload  204 . During the packetization process, the source node  110  breaks the data into a plurality of data payload portions (i.e., smaller pieces of data). For example, in the depicted embodiment, the data payload for the data packet  300  is broken into data payload portion (P0)  208 , data payload portion (P1)  210 , data payload portion (P2)  212 , and data payload portion (P3)  214  based on the PW specification  206 . The number of data payload portions that the payload  204  has may vary depending on the level of granularity applied to the significance of the bytes. Each data payload portion is associated with particular attributes such as, but not limited to, a priority level or significance value of the data payload portion. In some embodiments, a binary value (e.g., 0 or 1) can be assigned to each data payload portion indicating whether the data payload portion is significant/required or insignificant/disposable. Alternatively, each data payload portion can be assigned a value within a range (e.g., 0-9) to provide greater granularity of the significance or priority level of a data payload portion of data. The data payload portions of data may vary in size (i.e., contain more information than other data payload portions). In an embodiment, the network node  114  performs the packet wash operation by dropping lower-priority data payload portions from the payload  204  of the data packet  300  according to the information in the PW specification  206  while retaining as much information as possible based on the current network condition. As a non-limiting example for video streaming, the source node  110  could rearrange the bits in the payload  204  such that the first consecutive data payload portions contain the base layer that encodes the basic video quality, while the next consecutive data payload portions contain the enhancement layers (e.g., higher signal-to-noise ratio, higher resolution, and higher frame rate). If congestion or other satisfying network condition occurs, a forwarding network node  114  can intentionally remove as many of the data payload portions containing the enhancement layers as necessary without having to request that the data packet  300  be retransmitted by the source node  110 . Additionally, the data payload portions in the packet payload  204  may have a certain relationship among each other. For example, a network coding scheme can be applied where the data payload portions are linearly coded from the original data payload portions in the payload and are linearly independent from each other. In this embodiment, dropping any of the linearly coded data payload portions and keeping the rest of the data payload portions would still enable the receiver to recover the original data contained in the packet payload. 
       FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram illustrating a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the depicted embodiment, the application  102  on the source node  110  creates the packet wash operation specification that specifies that the data for the packet can be split into four data payload portions of data (P0, P1, P2, and P3). The packet wash operation specification can also provide attributes and conditions associated with each of the data payload portions of data. The attributes indicate the level of significance for each of the data payload portions of data. The attributes can also indicate the type of information contained in each of the data payload portions of data. The conditions specify when the packet wash operation can occur. The conditions may also specify when packet retransmission should be requested. The data and the packet wash operation specification are passed to the transport layer  106  for packetization. The transport layer  106  creates a data packet based on the packet wash operation specification. In an embodiment, the data packet may include a flag or a packet wash operation field to indicate that the data packet supports the packet washes operation. Alternatively, the inclusion of a packet wash operation specification in the data packet indicates that the data packet supports the packet wash operation. The packet wash supported data packet (e.g., data packet  300 ) is passed to the network layer  106 , which transmits the data packet to the destination node  120  over the communication network  130 . When the intermediate routers (e.g., network node  114 ) on the communication network  130  receives the packet wash supported data packet, if the network conditions are normal, the network node  114  will forward the packet wash supported data packet just like a normal data packet (i.e., a non-packet wash supported data packet). However, if network conditions at the network node  114  do not enable the packet wash supported data packet to be forwarded without modification, the network node  114  will perform the packet wash operation based on the packet wash operation specification of the data packet if the conditions for performing the packet wash operation are met. For example, in the depicted embodiment, based on the network condition and the packet wash operation specification, the network node  114  removes the data payload portion (P3)  214  from the data packet and forwards the remaining data packet towards the destination node  120 . In some embodiments, a new washed data packet may be generated with the remaining data payload portions of the data packet and the original data packet may be discarded. Alternatively, in some embodiments, one or more data payload portions of data are removed from the original data packet, and the remaining data payload portions of the original data packet are forwarded. However, if the conditions for performing the packet wash operation are not met and the network conditions do not support forwarding the data packet, the network node  114  will drop the data packet and send a request to the source node  110  for retransmission of the data packet. When the data packet arrives at the destination node  120 , the data packet is depacketized, and the packet wash operation specification and the data are passed to the application  116 . In some embodiments, the application  116  can utilize the packet wash operation specification to determine if the data has been packet washed and the type of data that was removed. The application  116  may provide a user some indication or notification regarding the data that was not received. Thus, the data that is received at the destination node  120  is not required to be exactly the same as what is sent by the source node  110 . However, the received partial or degraded data is still useful to the application  116 . For example, if the dropped data is enhancement layers, the video can still be displayed in basic form. In some embodiments, the discarded data can be recovered from data received from prior data packets. For example, if the application  116  determines that the discarded data corresponds to a background color or other item (e.g., color of a car) or corresponds to an image that was previously received (e.g., a page of slide presentation that has not changed since the last packet), the application  116  can recover the discarded data by using the data from previous packets. Thus, in some embodiments, the data that is received may be repaired and recovered prior to being rendered. 
       FIG.  5    is a flowchart illustrating a process  500  performed by a source node for communicating a data packet that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process  500 , at step  502 , begins by determining whether information/data can be broken down and packed with different attributes into a data packet. If the information cannot be broken down and packed with different attributes into a data packet, the process  500 , at step  512 , will create a normal/regular data packet that will get transmitted towards the destination node at step  510 . However, if the data can be broken down and packed with different attributes into a data packet, the process  500 , at step  504 , creates a packet wash operation specification that specifies details for breaking the information into a plurality of data payload portions. Each data payload portion is associated with particular attributes and can also be associated with certain network conditions. At step  506 , the process  500  creates the data packet comprising the plurality of data payload portions based on the specification. In various embodiments, process  500  may perform a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) and encryption on each individual data payload portion of the data packet. CRC is an error-detecting code that detects accidental changes to raw computer data commonly used in digital telecommunications networks. Encryption prevents devices other than the intended destination node  120  from being able to recover the data in the individual data payload portions of data. The process  500  may also provide an offset of each data payload portion to indicate the beginning of each data payload portion of data in the packet. The process  500 , at step  508 , includes an indication in the data packet that the packet wash operation is supported. The indication may be a flag/field within the packet. Alternatively, the packet wash operation specification may be included in the data packet to indicate that the data packet supports the packet wash operation. At step  510 , the process  500  transmits the data packet along a network path towards the destination node of the data packet, with process  500  terminating thereafter. 
       FIG.  6    is a flowchart illustrating a process  600  performed by a network node for communicating a data packet that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process  600 , at step  602 , begins by receiving a data packet that includes an indication that the packet wash operation can be applied to the data packet. At step  604 , the process  600  determines whether the data packet can be forwarded without any modification. If the data packet can be forwarded without any modification, the process  600 , at step  612 , forwards the packet along the network path towards the destination node. However, if the process  600  determines that the data packet cannot be forwarded without being modified, process  600 , at step  606 , determines whether the conditions are met for performing the packet wash operation on the data packet. 
     The conditions for performing the packet wash operation may be predetermined by the network node, a domain controller, or may be specified within the data packet. The conditions can include network congestion, insufficient buffer, and/or data packet exceeding a maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the network node  114 . The MTU is the size of the largest protocol data unit that can be communicated in a single network layer transaction. If the data packet exceeds the MTU, the network node  114  drops the insignificant data from the data packet to generate a washed data packet within the MTU of the network node  114 . For instance, if the data packet arrives with n number of bytes and network node  114  can only queue n-m bytes, the packet wash operation checks if it is okay to drop m bytes and, if so, queues the remaining n-m bytes. In some embodiments, the network node  114  may mark some bits to indicate what was dropped from the data packet for the receiver. The washed data packet is forwarded as normal with any change to the IP header. 
     If the network conditions are not met for performing the packet wash operation on the data packet and the data packet cannot be forwarded without modification, the process  600 , at step  614 , sends a request for retransmission of the data packet to the source node. If the process  600  determines that the conditions are met for performing the packet wash operation on the data packet, the process  600 , at step  608 , performs the packet wash operation on the data packet to generate a washed data packet as described herein. At step  610 , process  600  forwards/transmits the washed data packet along the network path towards the destination node, with process  600  terminating thereafter. 
     It should be noted that the process  600  may be repeated by each intermediate network node  114  that receives the data packet containing the packet wash specification even if an earlier intermediate network node  114  performed the packet wash operation on the data packet. In other words, a data packet can undergo packet washing more than once if necessary by different intermediate network nodes  114  along the network path towards the destination node  120 . For instance, a first network node  114  may remove a first least significant data payload portion from a data packet based on the conditions of the first network node  114  and forward the washed data packet. A second network node  114  along the network path towards the destination node  120  can receive the washed data packet, and if necessary based on the conditions of the second network node  114 , remove a second least significant data payload portion from the data packet and forward the new washed data packet along the network path towards the destination node  120 . A third network node  114  along the network path towards the destination node  120  can receive the washed data packet, and if possible based on the conditions of the third network node  114 , restore or add a data payload portion that was previously removed from the data packet and forward the new washed data packet along the network path towards the destination node  120 . This process can be repeated as long as the data packet contains data that is indicated by the packet wash specification as being discardable. 
       FIG.  7    is a flowchart illustrating a process  700  performed by a destination node when receiving a data packet that supports a packet wash operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process  700 , at step  702 , begins by receiving a data packet that includes an indication that the packet wash operation can be applied to the data packet. At step  704 , the process  700  extracts the payload from the data packet and the packet wash specification from the received data packet. At step  706 , the process  700  determines whether the packet wash operation was performed on the received data packet. If the packet wash operation was not performed on the received data packet, the process  700  performs the normal processing of the payload of the data packet. In an embodiment, if the packet wash operation was performed on the received data packet, the process  700 , at step  708 , determines the data modification that was performed by the packet wash operation based on the packet wash specification. Based on the data that was modified during the packet wash operation, the process  700 , at step  710 , may decide to request retransmission of the original data packet at step  712 . Otherwise, the process  700  processes the received payload of the washed data packet at step  714 , with process  700  terminating thereafter. 
       FIG.  8    is a schematic architecture diagram of an apparatus  800  according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus  800  is suitable for implementing the disclosed embodiments as described herein. For example, in an embodiment, the source node  110 , destination node  120 , or network node  114  can be implemented using the apparatus  800 . In various embodiments, the apparatus  800  can be deployed as a router, a switch, and/or a controller within a network. 
     The apparatus  800  comprises receiver units (Rx)  820  or receiving means for receiving data via ingress ports  810 ; a processor  830 , logic unit, central processing unit (CPU) or other processing means to process instructions; transmitter units (TX)  840  or transmitting means for transmitting via data egress ports  850 ; and a memory  860  or data storing means for storing the instructions and various data. 
     The processor  830  may be implemented as one or more CPU chips, cores (e.g., as a multi-core processor), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and digital signal processors (DSPs). The processor  830  is communicatively coupled via a system bus with the ingress ports  810 , RX  820 , TX  840 , egress ports  850 , and memory  860 . The processor  830  can be configured to execute instructions stored in memory  860 . Thus, the processor  830  provides a means for determining, creating, indicating, performing, providing, or any other action corresponding to the claims when the appropriate instruction is executed by the processor. 
     The memory  860  can be any type of memory or component capable of storing data and/or instructions. For example, the memory  860  may be volatile and/or non-volatile memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM), and/or static random-access memory (SRAM). The memory  860  can also include one or more disks, tape drives, and solid-state drives and may be used as an over-flow data storage device, to store programs when such programs are selected for execution, and to store instructions and data that are read during program execution. In some embodiments, the memory  860  can be memory that is integrated with the processor  830 . 
     In one embodiment, the memory  860  stores a packet wash operation module  870 . The packet wash operation module  870  includes data and executable instructions for implementing the disclosed embodiments. For instance, the packet wash operation module  870  can include instructions for implementing the methods as described herein. The inclusion of the packet wash operation module  870  substantially improves the functionality of the apparatus  800  by enabling packet wash capabilities to increase the networking efficiency of the apparatus  800 . 
     Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments provide various systems and methods that enable a packet wash operation. Some benefits afforded by the embodiments described in this disclosure include reducing the need for packet transmission because the destination node/receiver has the capability or intelligence to comprehend the remaining data in the packet after removal of certain data payload portions from the payload by the intermediate network nodes. Additionally, while the received data is incomplete, the missing data is not so significant as to render the received data useless. In an embodiment, the destination node/receiver can acknowledge the acceptance of the packet, and also indicate to the sender that it was partially dropped in the network. In some cases, the destination node can indicate to the sender the particular information that was dropped by the network. Thus, by using the packet wash operation as disclosed herein, network resource usage can be tremendously reduced and better prioritized for the delivery of other packets. The latency of packet delivery can be significantly reduced due to the absence of re-transmissions, and smaller packet size after partial payload drops. Additionally, in some embodiments, the information contained in the original packet can be recovered by the receiving node, given the algorithms or methods are agreed and known in advance by the forwarding nodes and the receiver. The disclosed embodiments can be deployed in any type of a networking device including routers, switches, and network controllers, which are used by the service providers globally. 
     The disclosed embodiments may be a system, an apparatus, a method, and/or a computer program product at any possible technical detail level of integration. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present disclosure. The computer readable storage medium may be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. 
     While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated in another system or certain features may be omitted, or not implemented. 
     In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled or communicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicating through some interface, device, or intermediate component whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein.