Patent ID: 7761140

Claim:
A method of load-shedding in a computer network system having a plurality of signal sources, said method comprising: a. for each signal source S i selected from a set of sources {S 1 , S 2 , . . . }, each source having state p i,k selected from a set of states {p 1,1 , p 1,2 , . . . , p 1,N ; p 2,1 , p 2,2 , . . . , p 2,N ; . . . }, wherein i is an integer greater than one, N is an integer not less than two and k is an integer from 1 to N: i. obtaining by receiving as an input or by computing fractions f i,k , wherein each 0≦f i,k <1 is a fraction of a signal from source S i to be discarded if source S i is in state p i,k ; and ii. determining respective state p i,k of signal source S i based on the signal from source S i ; and b. for each source signal S i in determined state p i,k , discarding fraction f i,k of a signal from source, wherein a device in the computer network system is configured to transmit an undiscarded portion of the signal from source S i , to a processing and storage device.