Patent ID: 8310928

Claim:
A method for more efficiently utilizing network bandwidth between two or more network devices, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, by a first network device connected to a sender from a second network device connected to a receiver, a transmission rate limit; transmitting, by the first network device via the second network device, data packets from the sender to the receiver at a first transmission rate based on the transmission rate limit from the second network device; receiving, by the first network device from the second network device, an adjusted transmission rate limit, the adjusted transmission rate limit comprising the transmission rate limit adjusted, by the second network device, in response to allocating bandwidth by the second network device for communications between the second network device and a third network device different from the first network device; and transmitting, by the first network device via the second network device, data packets from the sender to the receiver at a second transmission rate based on the adjusted transmission rate limit received from the second network device.