Importance

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Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for managing varying traffic loads in a packetized communication network. At a predefined location, the instantaneous demand for bandwidth required for delivering traffic via a plurality of active channels is compared with the available bandwidth. When the available bandwidth at that pre-defined location is less than the bandwidth required to convey the signals carried along all these active channels, a rate adjusting mechanism is applied to at least one of the active channels, while repeating this check periodically. The rate adjusting mechanism is applied on packetized signals arriving along at least one group of active channels so as to ensure that: a substantially equalized signal quality is maintained for signals delivered via all of the active channels belonging to certain one or more groups of active channels, and the instantaneous overall bandwidth required to convey all the signals arriving at the pre-defined location, is not more than the available instantaneous bandwidth.

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First Claim