Patent ID: 8483064

Claim:
A method for operating a communication system, the method comprising: receiving an arrival rate of a plurality of real-time packets; receiving a real-time packet including a first plurality of identifiers, for transmission on either a first link or a second link, wherein the first link has a first bandwidth; performing a hash function on the first plurality of identifiers resulting in a first hash value, wherein the hash function has a total number of possible hash values; determining a fractional value representing a fraction of incoming real-time packets to be sent to the second link based on a comparison of the arrival rate of the plurality of real-time packets to the first bandwidth, and based on a ratio involving the arrival rate of the plurality of real-time packets and the first bandwidth; transmitting the real-time packet on the first link when the first hash value is greater than a product of the fractional value and the total number of possible hash values; and transmitting the real-time packet on the second link when the first hash value is less than the product of the fractional value and the total number of possible hash values.