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Abstract

A traffic conditioner is disclosed for use in a source edge device or ingress node in a carrier network. The carrier network includes: a plurality of virtual private networks, each virtual private network comprising a plurality of edge devices; and at least one core device for routing data between edge devices within the virtual private networks. Each plurality of edge devices includes: at least one source edge device; and at least one destination edge device or egress node associated with each source edge device. The carrier network also includes edge device communication means for determining the minimum aggregateRTT (minRTT) for the carrier network. The source edge device includes: means for measuring the rate of data flow (MeasuredRate) from the source edge device to each destination edge device associated therewith; means for calculating the round trip time (aggregateRTT) between the source edge device and each destination edge device associated therewith; and a predetermined target rate of data flow (TargetRate) between the source edge device and each destination edge device associated therewith. The traffic conditioner includes: in-marking means for marking a packet 'in' if the MeasuredRate at the source edge device<=the TargetRate at the source edge device; and out-marking means for marking a packet 'out' with probability of a function of ((MeasuredRate-TargetRate)/MeasuredRate)*((minRTT/aggregateRTT).sup.2) if the MeasuredRate at the source edge device>the TargetRate at the source edge device.

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First Claim