Patent ID: 7664034

Claim:
A method for collective bandwidth throttling, the method being implemented by a computer system, the method comprising: connecting by the computer system to a computer network that comprises one or more other computer systems; communicating by the computer system with a remote system that is in electronic communication with the computer network via a communication link; and coordinating by the computer system the computer system's use of the communication link with the one or more other computer systems' use of the communication link such that a total bandwidth used by computer systems in the computer network does not exceed a defined maximum value, wherein coordinating the use of the communication link comprises determining an effective bandwidth allocation for the computer system, wherein the effective bandwidth allocation for the computer system is calculated according to: B E =( B M ×B )/Σ B i wherein B M is the effective bandwidth allocation for the computer system, wherein B is an individual bandwidth allocation for the computer system, wherein Bi is a potential bandwidth use of the communication link by the computer systems in the computer network that are presently using the communication link, wherein BM is the defined maximum value, and wherein B M , B M , and B are ≧0 and ΣB i ≠0.