Communications network
First Claim
1. A method of operating a network node to provide a controllable quality of communication via said node, said node being operable to provide a dedicated amount of resource to a link or channel from said node, said link or channel being dedicated to communications with a user, said method comprising:
- classifying packets traversing said node as belonging to enhanced communications comprising packets comprising a permit indication or to ordinary communications comprising packets not comprising said permit indication;
transmitting packets classified as belonging to ordinary communications using only a restricted amount of resource which forms a subset of said dedicated amount of resource; and
transmitting packets classified as belonging to enhanced communications using an amount of said dedicated resource greater than said restricted amount of resource.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of operating a packet network to provide selectable levels of service to different communications flows is disclosed. The method provides a network user with more flexibility in assigning a level of service to a given flow than conventional Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks. Furthermore, it provides a better differentiation between different qualities of service than is enabled by recent proposals for Internet Protocol networks. By identifying packets belonging to flows requiring a relatively high level of service, and, in response, allowing those packets access to capacity which is otherwise withheld, a relatively high level of service can be provided to streams of such packets. The invention is especially useful in relation to providing selected flows along residential high-speed Internet access lines (e.g. ADSL) with a higher level of capacity than other flows. The withheld capacity can comprise capacity which is normally hidden from the end-user by network configuration. The sender and/or receiver of a flow can be charged for the high level of service provided to that flow.
85 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of operating a network node to provide a controllable quality of communication via said node, said node being operable to provide a dedicated amount of resource to a link or channel from said node, said link or channel being dedicated to communications with a user, said method comprising:
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classifying packets traversing said node as belonging to enhanced communications comprising packets comprising a permit indication or to ordinary communications comprising packets not comprising said permit indication;
transmitting packets classified as belonging to ordinary communications using only a restricted amount of resource which forms a subset of said dedicated amount of resource; and
transmitting packets classified as belonging to enhanced communications using an amount of said dedicated resource greater than said restricted amount of resource. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification