Patent ID: 8862768

Claim:
A method comprising: in a network device: receiving a service provider network parameter sent by a service provider to the network device, the service provider network parameter specifying a capability of the service provider; packetizing, into a first packet, first data generated by a first application running on the network device, the first data associated with a first datastream; receiving, from the first application, a first selected parameter value for the service provider network parameter, the first selected parameter value associated with the first datastream; packetizing into a second packet, second data associated with a second datastream different from the first datastream; receiving a second selected parameter value for the service provider network parameter, the second selected parameter value associated with the second datastream; generating a first tag for the first packet by taking into account both the first selected parameter value associated with the first datastream and the second selected parameter value associated with the second datastream; generating a second tag for the second packet by taking into account at least the second selected parameter value associated with the second datastream; tagging the first packet with the first tag and tagging the second with the second tag to obtain tagged packets; and transmitting the tagged packets to the service provider.