Patent ID: 8156225

Claim:
A method of accepting a QoS request for utilizing resources of a network in a predetermined quality, the method being performed by an apparatus intervening between a terminal connected to the network and a resource manager for managing resources in the network, comprising: performing a free resource information holding procedure comprising: receiving, from the terminal connected to the network, a resource unnecessity notification indicating that a resource allocated to the terminal has become unnecessary, holding, within the apparatus, as free resource information, information on a first free resource notified by the resource unnecessity notification as an unnecessary resource, in association with a validity period of the first free resource, the free resource information including a first communication speed quality guaranteed by the first free resource, wherein when the free resource information has been held within the apparatus over the validity period, the free resource information is deleted and a resource return notification is transmitted to the resource manager, so as to notify the resource manager of the deleted free resource information; performing a QoS request determination procedure comprising: receiving, from the terminal, the QoS request requiring a second communication speed quality, and determining whether the first free resource meets the received QoS request or not by comparing the second communication speed quality with the first communication speed quality on the basis of the free resource information held within the apparatus; performing a resource allocation procedure when the first free resource meets the received QoS request, the resource allocation procedure comprising: allocating the first free resource to the terminal without passing the free resource information to the resource manager, and transmitting information on the allocated first free resource to the terminal; and performing a resource manager inquiry procedure when the first free resource does not meet the received QoS request, the resource manager inquiry procedure comprising: transmitting the received QoS request to the resource manager so that the resource manager allocates a second free resource meeting the received QoS request to the terminal, receiving from the resource manager information on the second free resource allocated to the terminal by the resource manager when there is the second free resource meeting the received QoS request left in the resource manager, and transmitting information on the allocated second free resource to the terminal.