Patent ID: 8112530

Claim:
A method for reserving resources in a packet communication network, wherein the packet network is a hybrid network comprising both active nodes and passive nodes, wherein the active nodes consider information in active packets, said information relating to an execution environment of a respective active node, and wherein an active data flow comprises a set of active packets executed by the execution environment, the method comprising: sending a reservation packet comprising a request for reservation of resources constituting an execution environment for the active data flow; receiving said reservation packet by an active node in the network; and reserving resources of the active node according to the request, wherein said reservation packet is in an active packet format, wherein the active packet format comprises an indicator that indicates that the active packet comprises executable code or identifies a server from which an executable code is downloadable; wherein said resources constituting the execution environment comprise at least one of memory, passband size, and processing time, and wherein the reservation packet comprises parameters which are common to the active nodes of the network and wherein the parameters comprise parameters for processing data of the active data flow including a command defining conditions of use of the resources by the active node and the command identifies a maximum duration for performing the processing of the active data flow by the active node.