Patent ID: 8478892

Claim:
A method, comprising: generating, by a downstream Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) device, a current load status associated with the downstream SIP device; generating, by the downstream SIP device, address information associated with an upstream SIP device; creating, by the downstream SIP device, a header that includes: the current load status, the address information, and information relating to a validity of the header; sending, by the downstream SIP device, a SIP message that includes the header to the upstream SIP device; receiving, by the downstream SIP device and from the upstream SIP device, a first amount of traffic that is based on the current load status included in the header of the SIP message; and receiving a second amount of traffic, the second amount of traffic being less than the first amount of traffic when another load status, associated with the downstream SIP device, is not sent to the upstream SIP device within a particular amount of time after receiving the first amount of traffic.