Patent ID: 7778178

Claim:
A system for using an oversubscription module to provide multilevel oversubscription of bandwidth of a network to a plurality of users, including at least a first user and a second user, each capable of transmitting data flow to the network, the system comprising: means for policing a first data flow from the first user through a first meter of the oversubscription module and outputting a first output data flow from the first meter, where the first data flow is policed in relation to a first Committed Information Rate (CIR) and a first Peak Information Rate (PIR), wherein the first Committed Information Rate (CIR) is a guaranteed level of bandwidth allocated to the first data flow determined in relation to a first service agreement, and the first Peak Information Rate (PIR) is a maximum bandwidth allocated to the first data flow determined in relation to the first service agreement; means for policing a second data flow from the second user through a second meter of the oversubscription module and outputting a second output data flow from the second meter, where the second data flow is policed in relation to a second Committed Information Rate (CIR) and a second Peak Information Rate (PIR), wherein the second Committed Information Rate (CIR) is a guaranteed level of bandwidth allocated to the second data flow determined in relation to a second service agreement, and the second Peak Information Rate (PIR) is a maximum bandwidth allocated to the second data flow determined in relation to a second service agreement; and means for policing an aggregated output data flow of the first output data flow from the first meter and the second output data flow from the second meter through a third meter of the oversubscription module, where the aggregated output data flow is policed in relation to a third Committed Information Rate (CIR) and a third Peak Information Rate (PIR), wherein the third Committed Information Rate (CIR) is greater than or equal to a summation of the first Committed Information Rate (CIR) and the second Committed Information Rate (CIR), and the third Peak Information Rate (PIR) is at least equal to a larger of the first Peak Information Rate (PIR) or the second Peak Information Rate (PIR) to ensure high priority transfer of data from the first user and the second user through the network.