Patent ID: 7627675

Claim:
A method of controlling upstream bandwidth utilization of a cable modem in a cable network, the cable modem having an original service level, wherein the method is implemented on a programmable machine on the cable network, the method comprising: using a first token bucket having a first capacity B 1 for first tokens, each first token authorizing the network subscriber to transmit a unit of data, the first tokens added to the token bucket at a rate R 1 that equals the first capacity B 1 divided by a first time period T 1 ; controlling the first token bucket by using a second token bucket having a second capacity B 2 for second tokens added to the second token bucket at a second rate R 2 that equals the second capacity B 2 divided by a second time period T 2 greater than T 1 , to measure upstream bandwidth utilization, wherein said second token bucket has a time period T 2 that is at least 100 times larger than the time period T 1 of the first token bucket, and wherein said second token bucket has a second capacity B 2 that is at least 100 times larger than the first capacity B 1 of the first token bucket; wherein the controlling is based, at least in part, upon a determination of whether the subscriber's upstream traffic exceeds a predetermined level over a predetermined period of time based on the cable modem's original service level: informing a cable modem termination system (CMTS) if the cable modem is transmitting excessive amounts of data upstream, thereby potentially exceeding an amount allowed in the original service level; and implementing a modified service level for the cable modem based on an upstream bandwidth utilization of the cable modem, wherein the modified service level is applied directly to the cable modem using the first token bucket and the second token bucket, thereby eliminating the need for the cable modem to re-register with the CMTS.