Patent ID: 8667111

Claim:
A method of providing an application level of service over a network, the method comprising: receiving, at a network management unit, a datagram comprising: an application data portion, comprising a set of application data; and a routing data portion, wherein the routing data portion comprises a set of routing data comprising an application identifier and an intended user identifier, and wherein at least the routing data portion is configured as a function of an application service level protocol; and routing the datagram; wherein: the network provides an allocatable bandwidth configured to permit allocation of bandwidth resources; the application data is application data of a first application; the allocatable bandwidth is configured to be allocated into at least a first communication sub-link and a second communication sub-link, the first communication sub-link is configured to carry a first portion of the network traffic relating to the first application, and the second communication sub-link is configured to carry a second portion of the network traffic relating to a second application.