Patent ID: 7573834

Claim:
A method in a memory unit of a data processing unit for allocating a group bit rate among each line in a group of bonded lines in a communications network, the method comprising: receiving, by a first module in the memory, first and second actual bit rates (ACT 1 , ACT 2 ) for first and second lines (L 1 , L 2 ) of the group (G), respectively; calculating, by a second module in the memory, a splitting ratio (X) of the second actual bit rate to the first actual bit rate (X=ACT 2 /ACT 1 ); if the splitting ratio (X) is within a predetermined range, determining, by a third module in the memory, ones of first and second minimum bit rates (MIN 1 , MIN 2 ) and first and second maximum bit rates (MAX 1 , MAX 2 ) for the first and second lines (L 1 , L 2 ), respectively, from ones of the splitting ratio (X), a group minimum bit rate (MIN G ), a group maximum bit rate (MAX G ), and first and second preconfigured minimum bit rates (MIN L1 , MIN L2 ) for the first and second lines (L 1 , L 2 ), respectively; and, configuring, by a fourth module the memory, first and second transceivers for the first and second lines (L 1 , L 2 ), respectively, with ones of the first and second minimum (MIN 1 , MIN 2 ) and maximum (MAX 1 , MAX 2 ) bit rates.