Patent ID: 8144711

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: a first endpoint device in a communication network, the first endpoint device receiving a set of packets, adding a sequence number to each packet in the set of packets, providing a plurality of packet streams based on the set of numbered packets, and forwarding a first one of the plurality of packet streams through the communication network over a first physical path and a second one of the plurality of packet streams through the communication network over a second physical path, wherein when the packets are forwarded over the first and second physical paths, each packet in the first packet stream being forwarded over the first physical path has a different sequence number from each of the packets in the second packet stream being forwarded over the second physical path; and a second endpoint device in the communication network and in communication with the first endpoint device by the first and second physical paths, each of first and second physical paths traversing the communication network from the first endpoint device to the second endpoint device through one or more intermediate switching devices, the first physical path traversing the communication network through a different set of one or more intermediate switching devices from a set of one or more intermediate switching devices through which the second physical path traverses the communication network, the second endpoint device receiving the first packet stream over the first physical path and the second packet stream over the second physical path and determining for each packet in the first and second packet streams that arrives at the second endpoint device whether that packet is to be included in an output packet stream based on the sequence number in that packet, wherein one of the sequence numbers includes information that is used by the second endpoint device to determine a differential delay between the first and second physical paths.