Patent ID: 8199647

Claim:
A method for providing services which comply reliably and efficiently with their specific QoS requirements in a broadband, service-integrated communication network by transmitting traffic streams resulting from use of the services by means of a packet-oriented transport mechanism, the network offering a plurality of input and output ports and comprising a plurality of network nodes which are intermeshed so that there is generally a plurality of paths between different input and output ports, the method comprising: operating the network in a packet oriented and connectionless manner; distributing the traffic in the network to achieve a substantially uniform distribution of the traffic load in the network with traffic distribution decisions being taken automatically on an ad hoc basis in each network node; classifying each traffic stream according to its requirements into one of at least two traffic classes, which are processed and prioritized in a different manner for achieving a differentiated QoS tailored to the requirements of the respective service; for each traffic stream in higher priority classes except for the lowest class carrying out an admission control at the network ingress and at the network egress; and admitting the traffic stream for transmission only if both admission control decisions for the traffic stream taken independently of each other are positive.