Patent ID: 9621375
Date: 2017-04-11
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A method of controlling the flow of data-packet traffic through an Ethernet telecommunications network having a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by multiple network links, comprising receiving incoming Ethernet data-packet traffic from multiple customer connections at a first node of said multiplicity of nodes for entry into the network via said first node, obtaining Ethernet flow control messages each representing a state of said first node or one or more nodes of said multiplicity of nodes upstream from said first node, and using the state represented in each of said Ethernet flow control messages as factors in controlling the rate at which Excess Information Rate (EIR) traffic of said incoming Ethernet data-packet traffic is admitted to the network at said first node, wherein said controlling is based on a technique used to generate the Ethernet flow control messages with a step up in the rate being linear and a step down in the rate being exponential, wherein the step up and the step down are proportional to prescribed Ethernet traffic descriptors, wherein said multiplicity of nodes in said network comprise queues for said Ethernet data-packet traffic being transmitted through respective nodes, and each of said multiplicity of nodes with queues generates said Ethernet flow control messages and transmits such messages to downstream nodes, wherein the Ethernet flow control messages comprise indications of which of a plurality thresholds are reached in said queues and the Ethernet flow control messages are used to shape the Ethernet data-packet traffic without stopping transmission of Ethernet data-packets, and wherein said Ethernet flow control messages are selectively transmitted from said multiplicity of nodes directly in a backward path via hairpin connections at said multiplicity of nodes.