Patent ID: 6618378
Filing Date: 2003-09-09
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for transmitting traffic associated with different priorities over a single connection in a communications network, comprising the steps of:(a) transmitting a priority indicator over the connection to a downstream node in the communications network, the downstream node comprising a queue for queuing the traffic received at the downstream node over the connection, the queue being associated with a congestion measure indicative of congestion in the queue and having an adjustable discard range corresponding to the traffic carried over the connection, the priority indicator comprising information for identifying the priority of the traffic on the connection; (b) after transmitting the priority indicator, transmitting the traffic over the connection; wherein when the priority indicator is received at the downstream node the discard range is adjusted to correspond to the priority identified in the priority indicator, and when the traffic is subsequently received at the downstream node the traffic is stored in the queue if the congestion measure is outside the discard range and the traffic is discarded if the congestion measure is within the discard range.