Patent ID: 7215639

Claim:
A method of regulating packet flow to a downstream entity capable of forwarding packets to a plurality of intermediate destinations, the method comprising: maintaining a database of queues, each queue in the database being associated with packets intended to be forwarded to a corresponding one of a plurality of final destinations via a corresponding one of the intermediate destinations, each queue in the database being further associated with a state that is either active or inactive; upon receipt of a message from the downstream entity indicating a reduced ability of a particular one of the intermediate destinations to accept packets intended to be forwarded to a particular one of the final destinations, rendering inactive the state of the queue associated with packets intended to be forwarded to the particular final destination via the particular intermediate destination; and upon receipt of a message from the downstream entity indicating an increased ability of a particular one of the intermediate destinations to accept packets intended to be forwarded to a particular one of the final destinations, rendering active the state of the queue associated with packets intended to be forwarded to the particular final destination via the particular intermediate destination.