Patent ID: 9246827
Filing Date: 2016-01-26
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver; and a flow logic configured to control the transceiver to transmit a frame to a downstream device by determining whether the frame matches a predetermined pattern, wherein the predetermined pattern identifies a source of frames, and wherein the predetermined pattern specifies an action to perform for frames received from the source that are to be transmitted to the downstream device, and in response to determining that the frame matches the predetermined pattern, controlling transmission of the frame to the downstream device according to the action specified by the predetermined pattern, wherein the predetermined pattern is received from the downstream device, and wherein the flow logic is configured to control transmission of the frame by selecting an action according to the predetermined pattern, wherein the action includes changing a class of service for the frame by modifying the class of service in a header of the frame, pausing transmission of the frame, logging information about the frame, redirecting the frame to a different destination, permitting transmission of the frame, and dropping the frame, wherein changing the class of service includes promoting the frame to a higher class of service and demoting the frame to a lower class of service, wherein controlling transmission of the frame according to the action manages the flow of the frame through the network, wherein the class of service defines a priority level associated transmitting the frame, and wherein the priority level is selected from a range of priority levels that include at least eight different priority levels.