Patent ID: 7417950

Claim:
A control module for a provider edge node of a provider network, comprising: a session table storing control information relating to peering sessions between the provider edge node and the provider network; a circuit table storing, for each data tunnel, data tunnel identification data, encapsulation label data, outgoing data packet interface identification data, CIR data, class data, setup priority data, and holding priority data; a packet table storing, for each data packet flow, packet data interface identification data, data tunnel identification data, encapsulation label data, CIR data, class data, setup priority data, and holding priority data; an ingress resource table storing, for each data runnel, data tunnel identification data, physical bandwidth data and available bandwidth for each of a plurality of classes; an egress resource table storing, for each egress data interface, egress data interface identification data, physical bandwidth data, available total bandwidth data, and available bandwidth for each of a plurality of classes; admission control logic operatively connected to said session table, said circuit table, said packet table, said ingress resource table, and said egress resource table; said admission control logic referring to said session table, said circuit table, said packet table, said ingress resource table, and said egress resource table to perform admission control on behalf of a new data flow requesting ingress to and egress from the provider network.