Patent ID: 7933204

Claim:
A method for organizing data packets belonging to streams, comprising: /a/ determining the stream to which an incoming packet belongs, wherein a flow rate class is associated with said stream; /b/ when said stream is part of a list of active streams, introducing the packet into a fair sharing organization mechanism for the purpose of delivering the packet, the fair sharing organization mechanism being designed to deliver the packets from each stream substantially as per the same fair flow rate weighted by the flow rate class associated with the corresponding stream; and /c/ when said stream is not part of the list of active streams: obtaining an estimate of the quantity of incoming data items in relation to said stream over a reference time interval; comparing the estimate of the quantity of incoming data items in relation to said stream over the reference time interval with a maximum value, at least either the reference time interval or the maximum value being determined on the basis of an estimate of the fair flow rate; adding said stream to the list of active streams and introducing the packet into the fair sharing organization mechanism for the purpose of delivering the packet, if the estimate of the quantity of incoming data items in relation to said stream over the reference time interval exceeds the maximum value; and otherwise, introducing the packet at the end of a priority queue for the purpose of delivering the packet.