Patent ID: 8045456

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for regulating traffic in a computer network, the method comprising: assigning a plurality of rate buckets to a network interface port, wherein the network interface port is configured to receive network data traffic comprising packets, and wherein the plurality of rate buckets comprise at least a first rate bucket and a second rate bucket that are related hierarchically; accepting the network data traffic comprising the packets into the first rate bucket; performing a packet action based on counting tokens corresponding to the received packets and determining if an amount of the network data traffic exceeds a service provider user-defined rate bucket threshold for the first rate bucket; and passing the received packets of the network data traffic in the first rate bucket that exceed the service provider user-defined rate bucket threshold to the second rate bucket within the hierarchy based on a result of the packet action of the first rate bucket in the hierarchy; wherein the first rate bucket is programmed to accept a percentage of network data traffic, wherein the percentage is designated by the service provider user-defined rate bucket threshold; and configuring the first rate bucket to monitor traffic rate by: counting specific bytes or bits within a packet as tokens, wherein the specific bytes or bits include at least one of frame mode, count layer1 bits, count layer2 bits, and count layer3 bits.