Patent ID: 8345680

Claim:
A node for use in a packet-switched network providing a circuit emulation service, the node comprising: a receiver that receives a first packet, a second packet, a first set of at least one subsequent packet, and a second set of at least one subsequent packet, wherein each packet includes a sequence number (SN); a playout buffer encoded on a machine-readable storage medium; a circuit emulation engine that receives packets outputted from the playout buffer and transmits a circuit-switched signal based on the outputted packets; and a processor configured to: determine that the second packet is not in sequence with the first packet by determining that the SN of the second packet does not equal the SN of the first packet plus an expected increment value, determine whether the second packet represents a jump in SNs by determining whether the SN of a first subsequent packet of the first set of at least one subsequent packet equals the SN of the second packet plus the expected increment value, and when the second packet represents a jump in SNs, perform an operation to normalize the playout buffer upon receipt of each packet of the second set of at least one subsequent packet.