Patent ID: 6914883

Claim:
A method for processing Quality of Service (QoS) parametric information in a network element operable in an Internet Protocol (IP) network, wherein said network element includes at least one terminating line card operable as an ingress card supporting an incoming communications link, at least one terminating line card operable as an egress card supporting an outgoing communications link and a switch fabric disposed between said ingress and egress cards for supporting a plurality of virtual ingress/egress pipes (VIEPs) therebetween, comprising the steps of: receiving incoming information on said incoming link of said network element; determining in an ingress portion of a network processor system disposed on said ingress card whether said incoming information pertains to an IP-based service; responsive to said determining step, propagating said incoming information to an egress portion of said network processor system via said switch fabric, said egress portion including an embedded processor operable to perform a plurality of IP-based QoS (IPQoS) monitoring operations and for processing said incoming information into processed information; and transmitting said processed information to said egress card via a select VIEP for routing said processed information on said outgoing link to a neighbor in said network.