Patent ID: 8462778

Claim:
A method of transmitting data packets over a network, each data packet being associated with an importance level from at least two importance levels, comprising: a step of estimating a rate available on the network, comprising: a step of detecting a variation in the estimated available rate and, in a case where a value representative of a variation in the estimated available rate is detected that is greater than a first predetermined value representative of a high variation: a step of transmitting first data packets at the estimated rate available on the network; and a step of detecting an increase in the round trip time on said network greater than a second predetermined value representative of an abnormal increase, the detection being based on the transmitted first data packets; and in a case where an increase in the round trip time is above the second predetermined value, a step of transmitting the next data packets at a rate lower than the estimated available rate, wherein the transmitted first data packets contain packets of a lower importance level than an average of said at least two importance levels, the packet importance associated with each data packet depending on contents of the data packet.