Patent ID: 7292534

Claim:
A method for providing a minimum congestion flow of Ethernet traffic that is transported through a pipe from a sending point to a receiving point over a synchronous network, the synchronous network comprising network elements, fiber connections connecting the network elements and virtual containers, the transport being managed through a new layer over a synchronous network physical layer, the new layer comprising access points, links of access points pairs and circuits, which are the possible routes for connecting a pair of access points, wherein the method comprises: generating a delay marker at a sending point; transmitting the delay marker to a receiving point and back to the sending point through the circuits; calculating a time frame for the sending point to receive back the delay marker; estimating a congestion of the circuits according to the time frame for receiving back the delay marker; and assigning said Ethernet traffic to be transported in said synchronous network to at least one of said circuits having the minimum estimation of said congestion.