Patent ID: 8208374
Filing Date: 2012-06-26
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for managing available bandwidth for connections between terminals of a packet-oriented communication network comprising: providing a plurality of network agents, each network agent managing a plurality of terminals using knowledge of which of the managed terminals are disposed in a non-bandwidth-critical area; and wherein when connection signaling takes place to initialize a connection between terminals located in different non-bandwidth critical areas, an associated network agent forms a resource request requesting bandwidth, the requested bandwidth determined by the associated network agent, the resource request being directed to a bandwidth broker, the bandwidth broker checking an availability of the requested bandwidth in the communication network using knowledge of bandwidths occupied by existing connections and use of at least one topology function, the bandwidth broker transmitting a response to the resource request identifying whether the requested bandwidth is available; and wherein when connection signaling takes place to initialize a connection between terminals located in a same non-bandwidth critical area, an associated network agent permitting initialization of the connection to occur without checking for bandwidth availability and without contacting the bandwidth broker; and wherein the communication network is subdivided into subdomains, each subdomain is assigned to a respective bandwidth broker; and wherein the resource request for the connection to be initialized is routed from the bandwidth broker to a higher-ranking bandwidth broker that determines the subdomains included in the connection to be initialized using a further topology function and the higher bandwidth broker transmits inquiries in parallel to bandwidth brokers of the subdomains included in the connection to be initialized in parallel to check for availability of the requested bandwidth.