Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for enforcing service level agreements

US7272115B2 · kind B2 · utility

45Cited by
12References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 30, 2002
Grant dateSep 18, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 15, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L41/5093
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A network device for enforcing service level agreements is described that is able to scan the contents of entire data packets including header and payload information. The network device includes memory for storing subscriber information, policies and statistics. The traffic flow scanning processor scans the header and payload information from each data packet, which is used to associate each data packet with a particular subscriber, classify the type of network traffic in the data packet and to enforce the particular policies associated with the subscriber. The traffic flow scanning processor produces a treatment for the data packet based on the scanning. The scanned data packets and the associated treatments are then passed to a quality of service processor, which modifies the data packets if necessary and enforces resource allocation according to the preprogrammed policies.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.