Patent ID: 8194698
Filing Date: 2012-06-05
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: receiving, at a packet-processing node, an indication from an access network that an update of a quality of service of an existing IP flow for delivering a content between a first access terminal and a second access terminal through the access network is desired, wherein the access network is in communication with the packet-processing node and wherein the quality of service relates to the measure of service quality to an application, the quality of service including one or more of best efforts, bandwidth guarantee, latency guarantee, and packet ordering; in response to receiving the indication, deciding, at the packet-processing node, whether to update the quality of service of the IP flow based at least in part on available network resources determined from a traffic flow through the packet-processing node; if a decision is made to update the quality of service of the IP flow, determining new quality of service parameters for the update and sending an update message including the new quality of service parameters from the packet-processing node to the access network; sending an acknowledgment of the update message, from the access network to the packet-processing node; granting an update to the quality of service of the IP flow at the access network, wherein the IP flow at the access network includes at least a portion of the IP flow between the first access terminal and the access network; in response to the update, sending a registration request message from the access network to the packet-processing node, wherein sending the registration request message from the access network to the packet-processing node includes sending updated quality of service information for the IP flow; and sending a reply to the registration request message from the packet-processing node to the access network.