Patent ID: 8099756

Claim:
A method implemented in a device located at a customer premise, the method comprising: receiving a service map from a headend containing a plurality of entries, each entry including a service identifier, a location from which the service can be received from, a quality of service priority status and a corresponding bandwidth requirement, wherein the quality of service priority status is associated with a predetermined quality of service priority status scheme; receiving a request for a service; determining, based on the service map, required bandwidth for the requested service, wherein determining the require bandwidth comprises: parsing the request for service of each device at the customer premise requesting service, and adding a bandwidth management status of each device together; and providing the required bandwidth and the requested service to a bandwidth allocation device, wherein the required bandwidth and the requested service are conveyed using an Internet group management protocol (IGMP) request, wherein each device at the customer premise is configured to read and evaluate the request in determining the required bandwidth.