Patent ID: 6996062
Filing Date: 2006-02-07
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for avoiding network congestion in a packet forwarding device, the method comprising the steps of: receiving at the packet forwarding device at least one flow of packets; receiving at the packet forwarding device policy information to be applied to the at least one flow of packets, wherein the policy information includes at least one rule associated with address information and a traffic category; receiving at the packet forwarding device at least one queue parameter; continuously calculating, in the packet forwarding device, an average queue size; assigning a drop probability to the at least one flow of packets based upon (i) the policy information, and (ii) a number of packets transmitted since a packet was last dropped; selectively dropping packets from the at least one flow of packets based at least in part upon the drop probability, the average queue size, and the at least one queue parameter.