Patent ID: 7912040

Claim:
A method of allocating bandwidth of a subscriber line that carries Voice over Internet Protocol telephone calls and Internet Protocol Television transmissions, comprising: sending a message from a Voice over Internet Protocol call processor that is associated with the subscriber line to a video server that is associated with the subscriber line instructing the video server to reduce bandwidth used by Internet Protocol Television transmissions to the subscriber line in response to initiating setup of a Voice over Internet Protocol call for the subscriber line at the Voice over Internet Protocol call processor; reducing bandwidth of Internet Protocol Television transmissions that are sent by the video server to the subscriber line in response to receiving the message at the video server from the Voice over Internet Protocol call processor that is associated with the subscriber line; wherein reducing bandwidth comprises: receiving a message from the Voice over Internet Protocol call processor that identifies a total bandwidth that is available for Internet Protocol Television transmissions to the subscriber line; determining at the video server, a bandwidth to be used for each of a plurality of Internet Protocol Television transmissions that are currently being transmitted to the subscriber line, based upon a priority scheme that is stored at the video server; and transmitting at least one of the plurality of Internet Protocol Television transmissions from the video server to the subscriber line according to the bandwidth that was determined.