Patent ID: 7920472
Filing Date: 2011-04-05
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A configurable edge device for use in a network, the edge device being configured to be coupled, via at least one core device, to at least one other edge device in a network, the configurable edge device comprising: an admission controller for providing, over the entire network, per flow, rate limiting admission control of committed ingress data traffic and, if available bandwidth remains, of best effort (Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR)) ingress data traffic into the network onto a pre-defined path over a physical link to the core device, wherein the core device is without per flow admission control capability, and the per flow rate limiting admission control is implemented according to admission control instructions for admitting data to the traffic network at a given time according to bandwidth allocated for said traffic over said entire pre-defined path of said traffic from edge device to edge device through the network; wherein said admission controller dynamically allocates, at said edge devices, to data traffic at each said link, said available UBR bandwidth as a function of (i) provisioned UBR bandwidth for each said flow in said network, (ii) available UBR for each flow at each said link in said network, and (iii) a total UBR bandwidth demanded by each flow at each said link at a given time in said network, and allocating to each flow a portion of said demanded best effort bandwidth of said flow, in accordance with Service Level Agreements (SLA) for each said flow; a router for routing said ingress data traffic through said edge device onto said pre-defined path in accordance with a pre-defined routing scheme for the entire network; and a memory configured to store the admission control instructions and the pre-defined routing scheme in advance of the data traffic being received at the edge device; wherein operation of said admission controller and said router is controlled in accordance with data defining all physical and logical links in the network; wherein said pre-defined routing scheme is a substantially static routing scheme which is changed periodically to another substantially static routing scheme.