Patent ID: 7778176

Claim:
An apparatus facilitating concurrent classification and control of tunneled and non-tunneled data flows across an access link between a first computer network and a second computer network, comprising a tunnel mechanism including transformation tunnel capabilities operative to establish a communication tunnel with a remote network device having compatible transformation tunnel capabilities; a bandwidth management device operably connected to the tunnel mechanism, the bandwidth management device operably connected to the access link to monitor data flows between the first computer network and the second computer network; wherein the bandwidth management device is operative to: receive a first data flow from the first computer network; identify at least one traffic type corresponding to the first data flow; enforce a first bandwidth utilization control on the first data flow having a first target rate; transmit the first data flow to the tunnel mechanism; receive a second data flow from the tunnel mechanism; identify at least one traffic type corresponding to the second data flow; associate the first data flow to the second data flow; enforce a second bandwidth utilization control on the first data flow having a second target rate; transmit the second data flow to the second computer network; and adjust the first target rate based on feedback data derived from a difference between the first data flow and the second data flow.