Patent ID: 8014510

Claim:
A signaling network node comprising: signaling link network interfaces, each configured for receiving a signaling packet from a corresponding signaling node of a signaling network; and a processor configured for classifying each received signaling packet as belonging to one of a plurality of groups of the signaling nodes of the signaling network based on prescribed message class selection criteria, each group of signaling nodes including at least one signaling node and at least a first of the group of signaling nodes including a plurality of the signaling nodes of the signaling network, the processor configured for determining a corresponding message rate for each group of signaling nodes, relative to a unit time, based on the corresponding received signaling packet classified as belonging to the corresponding group of signaling nodes; the processor further configured for executing a congestion control operation for any one group of signaling nodes if the corresponding message rate for the one group of signaling nodes exceeds a corresponding predetermined threshold for the one group of signaling nodes.