Patent ID: 7477657

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, in accordance with a resource reservation protocol and with an edge router of an intermediate network located between a source device and a destination, a request to reserve resources for a packet flow along a path through the intermediate network, wherein the request specifies a Quality of Service (QoS) class; selecting, at the edge router, a Label Switched Path (LSP) within the intermediate network based on the QoS class specified within the request, wherein one or more of the devices along the LSP do not monitor resource allocation or maintain state information for the resource reservation protocol; assigning a label to the request to encapsulate the request within a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) packet; forwarding the MPLS packet along the LSP in accordance with the label; receiving packets associated with the requested packet flow; aggregating the packets with packets associated with other requested packet flows associated with the same QoS class; assigning labels to the packets to encapsulate the packets within MPLS packets associated with the LSP; and forwarding the MPLS packets in accordance with the labels.