Patent ID: 7215640

Claim:
A method that is machine performed by a first-hop node of a wide area network (WAN), for managing on-demand Quality of Service (QoS) assured pre-set path transmission of data from a source machine to a destination machine through the WAN, said method comprising the steps of: managing a node-path database providing links between QoS assured pre-set paths through the WAN and identification of a last-hop node of each QoS path; thereafter, receiving a message that includes identification of a specific request for a QoS assured pre-set path and the identification of the last-hop node that is coupled to the destination machine; thereafter, searching the node-path database for QoS assured pre-set paths linked to the identified destination machine, and selecting and extracting a QoS path based upon the identification of the last-hop node that is coupled to the destination machine; and thereafter, informing the source machine as to the status of the request.