Patent ID: 7746777

Claim:
An apparatus for bandwidth management over a multiplexed communication path, comprising: a plurality of load shapers configured to: maintain a local bandwidth management table comprising a local token count for each of a plurality of classes of source entities, wherein said classes of source entities are classes of application programs seeking access to the multiplexed communication path; receive a data packet from a source entity; determine that the source entity belongs to a class that is one of the plurality of classes; check the local token count for availability of tokens for said class of the source entity; transmit the data packet over the multiplexed communication path if the local token count for the class of the source entity is at least one; decrement the local token count for the class of the source entity in the local bandwidth management table in response to the transmission; and a Bandwidth Management Controller configured to: maintain a centralized bandwidth management table comprising a base token count for each of the plurality of classes of source entities, wherein a minimum bandwidth is reserved for each of the plurality of classes of source entities and the base token count increases at a rate corresponding to the minimum bandwidth; and wherein: the plurality of load shapers is further configured to request a token for the class of the source entity from the Bandwidth Management Controller in response to the transmission; and the Bandwidth Management Controller is further configured to respond to the request if the base token count for the class of the source entity is at least one by: providing a token and decrementing the base token count for the class of the source entity.