Patent ID: 9473414
Filing Date: 2016-10-18
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method implemented at a data network, wherein the data network contains a plurality of data plane nodes carrying user traffic and a control node managing the plurality of data plane nodes, the method comprising: receiving a packet at a data plane node to forward the packet to another data plane node; determining that the data plane node needs help from the control node for processing the packet to forward the packet, wherein the control node provides the help in order for the data plane node to forward the packet; quantizing a congestion level encountered at the data plane node; encoding the quantized congestion level in the packet, wherein a number of bits indicates the quantized congestion level; and sending a portion of the packet from the data plane node to the control node, wherein the portion of the packet includes the number of bits encoding the quantized congestion level and wherein the number of bits encoding the quantized congestion level is for use by the control node to prioritize a priority order for the control node to provide the help to the data plane node for processing the packet and forwarding the packet to the another data plane node.