Admission control for services

A system, comprising:

• a processing system;
• a memory system coupled to said processing system;
• and
• a network interface coupled to said processing system and connectable to a network;
• wherein said memory system stores instructions configured to cause said processing system, when retrieved from said memory system and executed by said processing system to:
• receive a service request over said network interface requesting a connection between a source node and a destination node over said network,
• determine a requested class of service associated with said service request, said requested class of service indicating one of a plurality of classes of service requested for said connection,
• store topology information about said network in a plurality of virtual local area network pools, a portion of said topology information being based on a protocol identifying multiple paths in said network, each said virtual local area network pool configured to include topology information relative to a set of paths configured to provision connections satisfying at least one class of service requirement,
• determine if a path of said multiple paths is available that is between the source node and the destination node and that satisfies said requested class of service by checking at least a subset of said plurality of virtual local area network pools, and
• assign said service request a connection corresponding to said determined path in one of said plurality virtual local area network pools.

A method, comprising:

• storing topology information about a network based on a multiple spanning tree protocol, the information including a plurality of virtual local area network pools, each virtual local area network pool including a plurality of paths available in the network corresponding to a separate spanning tree determined based on the multiple spanning tree protocol, each of the plurality of paths being capable of being used to provision a connection that satisfies a class of service requirement;
• associating at least one first path of the plurality of paths with a first class of service of a plurality of classes of service;
• associating at least one second path of the plurality of paths with a second class of service of the plurality of classes of service;
• receiving, by a processing device, a service request for a connection over the network between a first node and a second node, the service request including a requested class of service for the connection;
• determining, by the processing device, if at least one available path of the plurality of paths exists between the first node and the second node that is associated with the requested class of service by checking at least a subset of said plurality of virtual local area network pools;
• and
• assigning the connection to one of the at least one available paths in one of the plurality virtual local area network pools.

A computer-readable medium tangibly embodying computer-executable instructions configured to cause a processing device to:

• store topology information about a network based on a multiple spanning tree protocol, the information including a plurality of virtual local area network pools, each virtual local area network pool including a plurality of paths available in the network corresponding to a separate spanning tree determined based on the multiple spanning tree protocol, each of the plurality of paths being capable of being used to provision a connection that satisfies a class of service requirement;
• associate at least one first path of the plurality of paths with a first class of service of a plurality of classes of service;
• associate at least one second path of the plurality of paths with a second class of service of the plurality of classes of service;
• receive a service request for a connection over the network between a first node and a second node, the service request including a requested class of service for the connection;
• determine, by checking at least a subset of said plurality of virtual local area network pools, if at least one available path of the plurality of paths exists between the first node and the second node that is associated with the requested class of service;
• and
• assign the connection to one of the at least one available paths included in one of the plurality virtual local area network pools.