Patent ID: 8400919

Claim:
A method for prioritizing network traffic comprising: classifying an application layer message obtained by a traffic management device via an incoming TCP/IP connection as having a first priority of transmission to a receiver network device and an application layer message obtained by the traffic management device via the incoming TCP/IP connection and after the classified first priority application layer message as having a second priority of transmission to the receiver network device, the second priority application layer message having a higher transmission priority than the first priority application layer message, wherein the classification is based on one or more application layer characteristics of a respective plurality of data packets that together comprise each of the classified application layer messages and independent of any layer three information; and transmitting, based on the classification, at least some of the packets comprising the classified first priority application layer message via a first TCP/IP connection after transmitting the plurality of packets comprising the classified second priority application layer message via a second TCP/IP connection.