Communication traffic policing apparatus and methods

A method of policing a group of communication links, the method comprising:

• allowing transfer of communication traffic associated with respective communication links of the group at transfer rates up to respective per-link transfer rates for the communication links;
• and
• allowing transfer of additional communication traffic associated with a communication link of the group, above the per-link transfer rate for the communication link, where a combined transfer rate of communication traffic associated with another communication link of the group and the additional communication traffic would not exceed the per-link transfer rate for the other communication link.

A communication device comprising:

• communication link interfaces for connection to a plurality of communication links;
• and
• a policing module for applying a multi-stage policing scheme to control transfer of communication traffic associated with a group of at least a subset of the plurality of communication links, the multi-stage policing scheme comprising a per-link policing stage for enforcing respective per-link communication traffic characteristics of the communication links of the group and a group policing stage for enforcing an aggregate communication traffic characteristics of the group.