Patent ID: 6968374

Claim:
A network node for implementing a Quality of Service (QoS) mechanism in an Internet Protocol (IP) network, the network node comprising: a plurality of packet queues for storing packets from incoming packet flows, each of the packet queues having an associated QoS classification; a swapping table comprising swapping records, each of the swapping records listing an incoming network path and an associated QoS Class, an outgoing network path associated with the incoming network path, the outgoing network path having a second QoS Class associated therewith and an output port of the network node associated with the outgoing network path; a communication module capable of: receiving one of the incoming packet flows on one of the incoming network paths; and directing the received packets from the incoming packet flow into one of the packet queues having the associated QoS classification corresponding to the QoS Class of the outgoing network path associated with the incoming network path on which the packets have been received, and as listed in the swapping table.