Patent Issued for Method, Device, And Computer-Readable Medium For Automatic Network Traffic Engineering (USPTO 10,277,512)

2019 MAY 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 10,277,512, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Williams, Scott A. (Bloomington, IL); Kline, Scott (Normal, IL); Riedner, Daniel A. (Bloomington, IL).

This patent was filed on December 21, 2015 and was published online on May 13, 2019.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “High priority, large volume data transfers involve moving or copying data from one node of a network in a first location to another node of the network in a second location. The size of the data to be transferred may range from hundreds of gigabytes to tens of terabytes. Furthermore, the data is usually required to be moved within a predetermined period of time. Current network configurations may be unable to handle this type of time limited, high volume data transfer in an automated fashion and may suffer from other deficiencies.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Embodiments of the present technology relate to computer-implemented methods, network computing devices, and computer-readable media for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected nodes to handle electronic data traffic. The embodiments provide for setting up and managing a plurality of data transmission devices to transfer a large block of data from a source data storage device to a destination data storage device. The data transmission devices may be configured to give the highest priority to the large block of data being transferred. After the large block of data is transferred, the data transmission devices may be restored to a default or previous configuration.

“In a first aspect, a computer-implemented method for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected data storage devices and data transmission devices to handle electronic data traffic may be provided. The method may include: (1) receiving from a software application a request to transfer a block of data from a source data storage device of the network to a destination data storage device of the network. The request may include an indication of a size of the block of data and/or a maximum time period during which the block of data should be transferred. The method may include: (2) determining whether the block of data may be transferred in the required period of time from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device along a default path using a default configuration. The method may include: (3) sending a prioritized configuration to each of the data storage devices and data transmission devices along the default path from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device if the block of data cannot be transferred in the required period of time along the default path using the default configuration; (4) sending a signal to the source data storage device to transfer the block of data to the destination data storage device; and/or (5) returning the data transmission devices to a default configuration after the block of data has been transferred from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device such that electronic data transfer is facilitated. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternative actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer-readable medium for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected data storage devices and data transmission devices to handle electronic data traffic may be provided. The computer-readable medium may include an executable program stored thereon, wherein the program instructs a processing element of a network computing device to perform the following steps: (1) receiving from a software application a request to transfer a block of data from a source data storage device of the network to a destination data storage device of the network, wherein the request includes an indication of a size of the block of data and a maximum time period value defining a size of the block of data and/or a maximum time period during which the block of data should be transferred; (2) determining whether the block of data may be transferred in the required period of time from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device along a default path using a default configuration; (3) sending a prioritized configuration to each of the data storage devices and data transmission devices along the default path from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device if the block of data cannot be transferred in the required period of time along the default path using the default configuration; (4) sending a signal to the source data storage device to transfer the block of data to the destination data storage device; and/or (5) returning the data transmission devices to a default configuration after the block of data has been transferred from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device to facilitate electronic data transfer. The program stored on the computer-readable medium may instruct the processing element to perform additional, fewer, or alternative actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a network computing device for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected data storage devices and data transmission devices to handle electronic data traffic may be provided. The network computing device may include a communication element, a memory element, and/or a processing element. The communication element may receive and transmit communications to and from a plurality of data storage devices and a plurality of data transmission devices. The memory element may be electronically coupled to the communication element and may store executable instructions. The processing element may be electronically coupled to the communication element and the memory element. The processing element may be configured to receive from a software application a request to transfer a block of data from a source data storage device to a destination data storage device, the request including an indication of a size of the block of data and/or a maximum time period value defining a size of the block of data, and/or a maximum time period during which the block of data should be transferred; determine whether the block of data may be transferred in the required period of time from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device along a default path using a default configuration; send a prioritized configuration to each of the data storage devices and data transmission devices along the default path from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device if the block of data cannot be transferred in the required period of time along the default path using the default configuration; send a signal to the source data storage device to transfer the block of data to the destination data storage device; and/or return the data transmission devices to a default configuration after the block of data has been transferred from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device. The network computing device may include additional, fewer, or alternate components and/or functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a software application for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected data storage devices and data transmission devices to handle electronic data traffic may be provided. The software application may comprise a network path discovery agent, a quality of service discovery agent, a network health agent, and/or a network path and quality of service determination agent. The network path discovery agent may determine a plurality of paths through which to transfer a block of data from a source data storage device to a destination data storage device, wherein the determination is based upon a current configuration of the network. The quality of service discovery agent may determine current quality of service settings for the data storage devices and a plurality of data transmission devices along the paths. The network health agent may determine a current performance status of the network. The network path and quality of service determination agent to determine an optimal path from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device based on data received from the network path discovery agent, the quality of service discovery agent, and the network health agent. The agents may be computer-readable or computer-executable instructions, computer applications, and/or computer-executable instruction modules stored on non-transitory computer-readable media or medium. The software application may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“Advantages of these and other embodiments will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the exemplary embodiments which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments described herein may be capable of other and different embodiments, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following:

“1. A computer-implemented method for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected data storage devices and data transmission devices to handle electronic data traffic, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving from a software application a request to transfer a block of data from a source data storage device of the network to a destination data storage device of the network, the request including an indication of a size of the block of data and a maximum time period value defining a size of the block of data and a maximum time period during which the block of data should be transferred; determining whether the size of the block of data and the maximum time period exceed predetermined thresholds for changing a configuration of the data transmission devices and continuing if the thresholds are exceeded; determining a status for each data storage device and a plurality of data transmission devices; determining whether the block of data can be transferred in the required period of time from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device along a default path using a default configuration; sending a prioritized configuration to each of the data storage devices and data transmission devices along the default path from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device if the block of data cannot be transferred in the required period of time along the default path using the default configuration; sending a signal to the source data storage device to transfer the block of data to the destination data storage device; monitoring the status of each of the data transmission devices and adding data transmission devices to the one or more paths if an aggregate data throughput falls below a minimum value, wherein the status of each data transmission device includes a latency, a jitter, a bandwidth, and a capacity of data flow through the data transmission device; and returning the data transmission devices to a default configuration after the block of data has been transferred from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device to facilitate electronic data transfer.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising querying each data storage device and data transmission device to report their status.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the status of each data storage device includes a listing of currently running jobs.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the status of each data storage device includes a listing of planned jobs.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the prioritized configuration for each of the data transmission devices includes modifying a queue depth and a bandwidth reservation for quality of service.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the prioritized configuration for each of the data transmission devices includes modifying window sizes and maximum segment size values for transmission control protocol.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the prioritized configuration for each of the data transmission devices includes modifying a maximum transmission unit and a path maximum transmission unit discovery for internet protocol.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the prioritized configuration for each of the data transmission devices includes deploying services including de-duplication services, compression services, TCP optimization services, and encryption services.

“9. A computer-implemented method for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected data storage devices and data transmission devices to handle electronic data traffic, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving from a software application a request to transfer a block of data from a source data storage device of the network to a destination data storage device of the network, the request including an indication of a size of the block of data and a maximum time period value defining a size of the block of data and a maximum time period during which the block of data should be transferred; determining whether the size of the block of data and the maximum time period exceed predetermined thresholds for changing a configuration of the data transmission devices and continuing if the thresholds are exceeded; determining a status for each data storage device and a plurality of data transmission devices; determining whether the block of data can be transferred in the required period of time from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device along a default path using a default configuration; sending a prioritized configuration to each of the data storage devices and data transmission devices along the default path from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device if the block of data cannot be transferred in the required period of time along the default path using the default configuration; sending a signal to the source data storage device to transfer the block of data to the destination data storage device; monitoring the status of each of the data transmission devices and adding data transmission devices to the one or more paths if an aggregate data throughput falls below a minimum value; and returning the data transmission devices to a default configuration after the block of data has been transferred from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising querying each data storage device and data transmission device to report their status.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising monitoring the status of each of the data transmission devices and adding data transmission devices to the default path if an aggregate data throughput falls below a minimum value.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the status of each data transmission device includes a latency, a jitter, a bandwidth, and a capacity of data flow through the data transmission device.

“13. A computer-implemented method for automatic configuring of a network of interconnected data storage devices and data transmission devices to handle electronic data traffic, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving from a software application a request to transfer a block of data from a source data storage device of the network to a destination data storage device of the network, the request including an indication of a size of the block of data and a maximum time period value defining a size of the block of data and a maximum time period during which the block of data should be transferred; determining whether the size of the block of data and the maximum time period exceed predetermined thresholds for changing a configuration of the data transmission devices and continuing if the thresholds are exceeded; determining a status for each data storage device and a plurality of data transmission devices; determining whether the block of data can be transferred in the required period of time from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device along a default path using a default configuration; sending a prioritized configuration to each of the data storage devices and data transmission devices along the default path from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device if the block of data cannot be transferred in the required period of time along the default path using the default configuration, wherein the prioritized configuration for each of the data transmission devices includes modifying a queue depth and a bandwidth reservation for quality of service; sending a signal to the source data storage device to transfer the block of data to the destination data storage device; monitoring the status of each of the data transmission devices and adding data transmission devices to the one or more paths if an aggregate data throughput falls below a minimum value, wherein the status of each data transmission device includes a latency, a jitter, a bandwidth, and a capacity of data flow through the data transmission device; and returning the data transmission devices to a default configuration after the block of data has been transferred from the source data storage device to the destination data storage device.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Williams, Scott A.; Kline, Scott; Riedner, Daniel A. Method, Device, And Computer-Readable Medium For Automatic Network Traffic Engineering. U.S. Patent Number 10,277,512, filed December 21, 2015, and published online on May 13, 2019. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,277,512.PN.&OS=PN/10,277,512RS=PN/10,277,512

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