Patent ID: 7260098

Claim:
A method of transporting data via a plurality of connections through a network, wherein incoming data is distributed over the connections in successive groups of containers, respective containers of each group being transmitted via respective ones of the connections, each with an identifier of the group to which the container belongs, a repeating sequence of identifiers being used, the method comprising: buffering data from containers that have been received via the connections in a buffer memory; detecting an oldest identifier value received via the connections during a time frame by determining a plurality of respective minimum values of the identifiers received in the time frame, each minimum value being determined among received identdiers from a respective sub-range of possible identifier values, identifying a sequentially first sub-range of a plurality of successive sub-ranges for which at least one of the minimum values have been determined, and selecting the minimum value of the sequentially first sub-range as oldest identifier; and outputting containers with the oldest identifier from the buffer memory.