Patent ID: 7826355

Claim:
A method of setting up virtual circuits between a first end system and a second end system connected by a network, said method being performed in said first end system, said method comprising: sending to said second end system a single signaling message requesting a plurality of virtual circuits to be provisioned to said second end system, each of said plurality of virtual circuits terminating at said first end system and said second end system, the single signaling message including traffic parameters for the virtual circuits regardless of a provisioning status of the virtual circuits, wherein the traffic parameters include a quality of service to be applied to the virtual circuits; and receiving an acceptance message in response to sending said single signaling message, said acceptance message indicating that fewer than said plurality of virtual circuits are provisioned to said second end system from said first end system, in response to said single signaling message, wherein the single signaling message includes a first information element corresponding to a grouping of some of the virtual circuits, and a second information element corresponding to a selected one of the virtual circuits, and wherein the first information element is not supported by at least one device between the first end system and the second end system such that the first information element is ignored by the device.