METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING GUARANTEED QUALITY OF SERVICE IN A LOCAL OR WIDE AREA NETWORK

摘要

A method and apparatus for adaptingexisting packet-switched LAN infrastructures (e.g.packet-switched Ethernet) so as to be able to providereserved-bandwidth virtual-circuit switching services inaddition to their conventional capabilities. A centralizedcontrol point is incorporated within the infrastructure,preferably via a firmware upgrade to an existingenterprise-class switch, that maintains a map of pathsbetween endstations in the network, as well as thebandwidth capabilities of all links and switches alongthe paths. When a virtual circuit connection betweenendstations is requested, the centralized control pointdetermines whether the requested bandwidth is availableall along the path. If so, the resources along the pathare reserved for the connection. Existing switches inthe LAN infrastructure are adapted to give priority topackets belonging to the connection, thereby providingthe desired QoS for that connection.