Patent ID: 7349704
Filing Date: 2008-03-25
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method for sharing bandwidth between service classes, comprising: selectively allocating bandwidth among one or more of a first service class, a second service class, and a third service class; transmitting traffic for the second service class in excess of bandwidth allocated to the second service class using unused bandwidth allocated to the third service class, wherein the third service class comprises a lower priority than the first service class and the second service class comprises a lower priority than the first service class, and wherein the second service class has a higher priority than the third service class, and wherein the third service class includes excess bandwidth that is accommodating non-bursty service classes or voice traffic; coordinating bandwidth for each of the service classes such that the traffic is transmitted according to rules associated with the priorities of each of the service classes, and wherein the first service class has a substantial guarantee of traffic arrival, the second service class has a limited guarantee of traffic arrival, and the third service class has a substantially limited guarantee or no guarantee of traffic arrival; and evaluating whether or not to leverage unused voice bandwidth to accommodate a bandwidth requirement for any service class before using unused bandwidth allocated to a lower priority service class, wherein the first service class comprises video traffic.