Patent ID: 7848239

Claim:
A network system capable of dynamically controlling a data flow, the network system comprising: a forwarding unit for receiving a packet and for providing a QoS (quality of service) function including: at least one classifier for classifying the packet according to a traffic property of the packet; at least one meter for measuring a traffic flow, wherein the at least one meter includes a rate limit unit for dynamically adjusting each meter entry according to measured traffic flow for each meter entry, wherein the at least one meter utilizes a leaky bucket to perform meter control; and at least one queue device for transferring the packet; and a processor for accessing data flow information from the at least one meter within the forwarding unit through an interface and setting at least one parameter of the forwarding unit; wherein the interface is coupled between the forwarding unit and the processor, and the processor executes a software program to set the at least one parameter of the forwarding unit, and wherein the processor sets a number of tokens in the leaky bucket and reads a number of remaining tokens to control traffic flow.