Patent ID: 8908629

Claim:
In a communication system that transmits transmit data over a communication network that performs bandwidth-reservation media access control, a bandwidth reservation apparatus that reserves transmission bandwidth for transmitting the transmit data over the communication network, the bandwidth reservation apparatus comprising: a transmit data buffer for temporarily storing the transmit data for an interval from a time when the transmit data are input to a time when the transmit data are transmitted to the communication network; a bit rate reporter for reporting a bit rate of the transmit data; a first reserved bandwidth quantity calculator for calculating, from the bit rate of the transmit data, a first reserved bandwidth quantity required for transmission on the communication network; a second reserved bandwidth quantity calculator for calculating a maximum bandwidth quantity that can be additionally reserved on the communication network as a second reserved bandwidth quantity that is additionally acquired so as to compensate for a shortage of transmission bandwidth that occurs during a bandwidth acquisition delay time from a time when the bit rate of the transmit data changes until the first reserved bandwidth quantity can be reserved; and a bandwidth reservation controller for reserving a combined reserved bandwidth quantity obtained by combining the first and second reserved bandwidth quantities.