Patent ID: 7136357

Claim:
A transmission path controlling apparatus for use with an Internet protocol network which includes a source communication apparatus, a destination communication apparatus, a plurality of transmission paths capable of being set between said source communication apparatus and said destination communication apparatus, and at least one intermediate communication apparatus each interposed in any one of said transmission paths, said transmission path controlling apparatus being provided in one of said communication apparatus, comprising: a traffic characteristic collection section for collecting traffic characteristics of those of said transmission paths connected to the one communication apparatus or the other communication apparatus, a traffic characteristic notification section for notifying the other communication apparatus of the traffic characteristics collected by said traffic characteristic collection section, a load calculation section for calculating load based on the traffic characteristics collected by said traffic characteristic collection section, a decision section for deciding whether or not a transmission path should be added or deleted based on the load information determined by said load calculation section, and a load equalization section for equalizing the load determined by said load calculation section among said plurality of transmission paths based on the decision of said decision section.