Integrated access point network device
First Claim
1. A method for processing communication in a device operating in a first mode, the device having a first interface and a second interface, comprising:
- accepting data packets at the first interface;
controlling a rate of arrival of the data packets at the first interface, the first interface configured to enable bi-directional communication, the controlling including sending control information from the device to at least one of a plurality of other devices to effect the rate of arrival;
for each accepted packet, identifying one of a plurality of classes of data flows associated with said packet;
for at least some of the accepted packets, queuing said packets according to the identified class for said packet; and
transmitting the accepted packets through the second interface, the second interface configured to enable bi-directional communication, the transmitting and the controlling both being in accordance with a policy associated with the plurality of classes of data flows.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communication device integrates traffic monitoring, policy configuration and enforcement, and proxy services within the device. The policies can affect both prioritization of data as well as allocation of communication bandwidth. Data packets that are accepted at the device are classified according to a set of defined classes and are transmitted through the device according to a policy for prioritization and bandwidth allocation for the classes. Optionally, some of the packets are passed to a proxy application hosted in the communication device. The device functions as a link-layer bridge, thereby allowing the device to be inserted into a data path without reconfiguring network layer software at devices that use that data path. The device includes operating modes in which packets are passed through the device without modification.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for processing communication in a device operating in a first mode, the device having a first interface and a second interface, comprising:
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accepting data packets at the first interface; controlling a rate of arrival of the data packets at the first interface, the first interface configured to enable bi-directional communication, the controlling including sending control information from the device to at least one of a plurality of other devices to effect the rate of arrival; for each accepted packet, identifying one of a plurality of classes of data flows associated with said packet; for at least some of the accepted packets, queuing said packets according to the identified class for said packet; and transmitting the accepted packets through the second interface, the second interface configured to enable bi-directional communication, the transmitting and the controlling both being in accordance with a policy associated with the plurality of classes of data flows. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A communication device comprising:
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a plurality of network interfaces, including a first network interface, and a second network interface, each of the first network interface and the second network interface being configured to enable bi-directional communication, wherein the communication device is configured to pass packets belonging to a plurality of classes of data flows between the network interfaces according to a configurable policy; a plurality of queues, each associated with a different one of the classes of data flows, for accepting packets from the first network interface; storage for configuration data, including storage for the configurable policy for the classes of data flows; a rate shaper for controlling a rate of arrival of packets at the first network interface according to the configurable policy, the controlling including sending control information from the device to at least one of a plurality of other devices to effect the rate of arrival; and a scheduler for determining when to dequeue data packets queued in the plurality of queues according to the configurable policy for the classes of data flows. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification