Reexamination Certificate
1997-04-15
2001-08-14
Winder, Patrice (Department: 2758)
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273622
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to data communication protocols and more particularly relates to a protocol for enhancing data communication over the Internet and other TCP/IP networks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In recent years the global data communication network known as the Internet has experienced explosive growth. It is estimated that since 1991, the number of Internet (also known as simply the Net) users has doubled on an annual basis and is estimated to reach 120 million users by the end of 1997. This phenomenal growth will lead to approximately 200 million Internet users by the year 2000. It is also predicted that by the turn of the century, more than 70% of all personal computers (PCs) will be on the Net and that electronic mail (e-mail) and other on-line services will be in wide spread use.
Simultaneously with the ever increasing demand for additional bandwidth, the Internet is likely to become a critical communication tool for business. Large organizations will use it as a major marketing channel. Banks, airlines, retailers and other service providers will offer their customers communications via the Internet much as they today offer their customers communication via a toll free access number.
However, it has been reported that Internet users are already experiencing severe communications constraints due to the inefficient handling of existing protocols and to the overload of the Internet. As the load conditions on the Internet become heavier and heavier, network response time will get slower and slower and the congestion rate will increase will lead to higher levels of packet loss thus lowering the performance of the network.
In addition, concurrent with the tremendous growth of the number of the traditional Internet, there is a huge increase in the number of intranets. Intranets are private networks created by organizations which use protocols and standards similar to the public Internet and are accessible to authorized users only. Intranets are used by corporations to permit employees Internet access as well as to share corporate information, product data, schedules, technical support, etc. Intranets are especially useful to organizations as the number of nomadic employees and telecommuters rapidly increases because they enable collaborative work sharing regardless of employees' physical locations. It is likely that in the future, Intranets will provide quick and easy communications between a corporation and its customers and suppliers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a protocol and associated method for enhancing the throughput and response time performance of Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) applications and services in Internet and Intranet environments that use the TCP/IP protocol suite, e.g., HTTP Internet browsers, HTTP servers, FTP servers, etc. The protocol of the present invention, termed Communication Enhancement Protocol (CEP), comprises a flow control method that functions to maximize the performance of IP communication links. The CEP is positioned in either Transport Layer
4
or Session Layer
5
of the OSI communications protocol stack. The CEP of the present invention optimizes the interactions between transport protocols and applications by utilizing novel flow control algorithms so as to reduce overhead and the use of the server's resources. Using the CEP of the present invention, data throughput and response time are up to 2.5 times as fast as compared with conventional communication protocols. The CEP also comprises an error handling mechanism that permits detection of and recovery from packet loss and extreme network congestion.
There is therefore provided in accordance with the present invention, in a data communication system having a client and a server side, a method of forming a connection request message to establish a communication channel between the client and the server, comprising the steps of including an Internet Protocol (IP) header field within the connection request message, including User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header field within the connection request message, including a message type field within the connection request message indicating the type of the message, including a last received message number field within the connection request message indicating the number of the last received message, including a client IP address field within the connection request message indicating the IP address of the client, including a client port number field within the connection request message indicating the port number of the client, including a target application identification (ID) field within the connection request message indicating the ID of the target application, including a BUFFER_SIZE field within the connection request message indicating the maximum permitted size of the UDP packet to be transmitted, including a MAX_TX field within the connection request message indicating the maximum number of messages transmitted between acknowledges, including a MAX_RX field within the connection request message indicating the maximum number of messages received between acknowledges, including an ACK_TIMEOUT_TX field within the connection request message indicating the timeout period for retransmission of unacknowledged messages, including an ACK_TIMEOUT_RX field within the connection request message indicating the maximum timeout period for sending an acknowledgment during reception, including an ERROR_LEVEL field within the connection request message indicating the error sensitivity level requested by the client, including a ALIVE_RATE field within the connection request message indicating the keep alive rate requested by the client, and generating the connection request message by combining together the bits representing the IP header field, the UDP header field, the message type field, the last received message number field, the client IP address field, the client port number field, the target application ID field, the BUFFER_SIZE field, the MAX_TX field, the MAX_RX field, the ACK_TIMEOUT_TX field, the ACK_TIMEOUT_RX field, the ERROR_LEVEL field and the ALIVE_RATE field.
There is also provided in accordance with the present invention, in a data communication system having a client and a server side, a method of forming a connection acknowledgment message to establish a communication channel between the client and the server, comprising the steps of including an Internet Protocol (IP) header field within the connection response message, including User Datagram Protocol (UDP) header field within the connection response message, including a message type field within the connection response message indicating the type of the message, including a last received message number field within the connection response message indicating the number of the last received message, including a client IP address field within the connection response message indicating the IP address of the server, including a client port number field within the connection response message indicating the port number of the server, including a target application identification (ID) field within the connection response message indicating the ID of the target application on the client, including a resolved BUFFER_SIZE field within the connection response message indicating the resolved maximum permitted size of the UDP packet to be transmitted, including a MAX_TX field within the connection response message indicating the resolved maximum number of messages transmitted between acknowledges, including a MAX_RX field within the connection response message indicating the resolved number of messages received between acknowledges, including an ACK_TIMEOUT_TX field within the connection response message indicating the resolved timeout period for retransmission of unacknowledged messages, including an ACK_TIMEOUT_RX field within the connection response message indicating the resolved maximum timeout period for sending an acknowledgment, including an ERROR_LEVEL field within the connect
Flash Networks Ltd.
Needle & Rosenberg P.C.
Winder Patrice
LandOfFree
Data communication protocol for maximizing the performance... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Data communication protocol for maximizing the performance..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Data communication protocol for maximizing the performance... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2489045