Patent ID: 7788357

Claim:
A method implemented by a policy server for managing a network, said method comprising: receiving a request at the policy server to establish a session at a future time T 1 over the network, said requested session for transferring content between a content server and a subscriber's equipment and involving a network termination device through which the requested session will pass; in response to receiving said request, determining whether sufficient network bandwidth will be available at said network termination device at time T 1 to support the requested session, wherein determining whether sufficient network bandwidth will be available at time T 1 comprises predicting future demand for network bandwidth associated with future sessions at said network termination device at time T 1 and then taking into account future reservations for network bandwidth at said network termination device at time T 1 as well as the predicted demand for network bandwidth; if sufficient network bandwidth is determined to be available at the network termination device at time T 1 , at the policy server reserving network bandwidth of the network termination device necessary to support the requested future session; acknowledging to the requestor that network bandwidth has been reserved for said requestor for time T 1 ; and when current time reaches time T 1 , causing the requested session to be set up through the network termination device for transferring content between the content server and the subscriber's equipment.