Patent ID: 8027254

Claim:
A method of limiting a bit rate going to a network service having a target bit rate, wherein data packet traffic to the network service coming from at least one contributor and a bit rate being associated with the portion of the traffic coming from said contributor, wherein the method comprises sending a packet from the contributor to the network service if the bit rate of the traffic of the contributor is below a threshold that is a function of the target bit rate and a current data packet traffic to said network service, the bit rate of the traffic from the contributor being measured on the current data packet traffic, wherein, once the threshold has been computed at a first time, a second time at which the threshold is to be recomputed is evaluated on receiving each packet, and wherein, with a variable time period for computation of the threshold being defined by the first and second threshold computation times, said variable time period lies in a range from a minimum value for current data packet traffic determination to a predetermined maximum value.