Patent ID: 8144586

Claim:
A method for controlling network bandwidth, the method comprising: gathering, using a microprocessor of an access node device, network performance information that includes information distinguishing between data packets containing real-time content and data packets containing non-real-time content using performance information packet (PIP) data packets; receiving a priority level for each of the plurality of customers; throttling, by the access node device, the network bandwidth for each of a plurality of customers in a communications network using one or more connection admission control (CAC) engines based on the network performance information and quality of service guarantees for real-time content and non-real time content, wherein the network bandwidth is throttled based on the priority level to increase or decrease the bandwidth available to each of the plurality of customers; reallocating the network bandwidth to each of the plurality of customers according to the quality of service guarantees in response to throttling the network bandwidth; and instructing a network device to perform a function designated by instructions within the PIP data packets such that the network device is configured in-band rather than out-of band.