Patent ID: 7340529
Filing Date: 2008-03-04
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
1. A bandwidth monitoring method suitable for use in a network on which specific type of packets are transferred in preference to packets other than the specific type of packets, comprising the steps of: receiving a packet from a specific source; detecting flow of the received packet by judging whether the received packet coincides with a flow condition pre-defined with at least one of in-header information items other than priority information; determining whether the received packet is of the specific type or not based on the result of the detected flow; monitoring whether the received packet violates a contract bandwidth for the specific type of packets under a contract with the specific source; and when the received packet does not violate the contract bandwidth for the specific type of packets and the received packet does not correspond to the specific type of packets, transmitting the received packet after converting it to a packet having a specific value in its header that is indicative of the specific type of packets.