Patent ID: 7149664

Claim:
A method for operating a second, sending network node relative to a first, receiving network node, the receiving node being operable to receive data packets sent by the sending node via a plurality of flows, the method comprising: determining a queue law function of the first, receiving node based upon predetermined system traffic conditions, the queue law function being representative of average queue size of an exemplary queue of the receiving node based on traffic conditions and percentage of dropped packets; and determining a control function for the second, sending node based upon the queue law function, the control function defining a drop percentage when a buffer of the second node is filled above a predetermined threshold based upon an average queue size, wherein the control function prompts a gradual increase of drop probability of all data packets in flows bound for the receiving network node in an overload condition defined by intersection of the queue law function and the control function, whereby each flow between the sending node and receiving node is proportionally affected regardless of sending rate of particular flows.