Patent ID: 8761010

Claim:
A communication apparatus configured to control a bandwidth of communication when a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus perform communication via a network, comprising: a measuring unit configured to measure the bandwidth for communication of at least one direction of two directions, a first direction from the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus and a second direction from the receiving apparatus to the transmitting apparatus, the measuring of bandwidth by observing at the communication apparatus (i) for the first direction an accumulated data length of a series of first packets sent from the transmitting apparatus, and/or (ii) for the second direction counting the increment of a number indicated by a series of second packets, each second packet sent by the receiving apparatus back to the transmitting apparatus to confirm receipt of a corresponding first packet; a storing unit configured to store information regarding bandwidth adjustment including a target bandwidth indicating a bandwidth required for communication; an adjusting unit configured to read out, from the storing unit, the target bandwidth of the direction for which the bandwidth was measured, and based on a comparison of the bandwidth measured at the measuring unit and the read out target bandwidth, to perform throttling or enhancing of the bandwidth by controlling the transmission interval of the first and/or second packets when relaying or transmitting the first and/or second packets, or duplicates thereof, from the communication apparatus.