Traffic flow cutover to virtual connection transport

A method for allocating network resources for data transport between a source network node and a destination network node, the method comprising the steps of:

• examining an id in a header associated with a data transport using a first data transport mechanism from a source node to a destination node over a network to determine a planning horizon time interval and a bucket with an associated bucket size;
• determining a cost function associated with using the first data transport mechanism to transport data from the source node to the destination node over the network;
• determining a cost function associated with using the second data transport mechanism to transport data from the source node to the destination node over the network;
• combining the cost function associated with the first data transport mechanism with the cost function associated with the second data transport mechanism so as to create a cutover value representing the cost of data transport necessary to switch from the first data transport mechanism to the second data transport mechanism;
• generating a drain rate function;
• waiting for new data to be transported using the first data transport mechanism;
• adding an amount associated with transporting the new data to the bucket;
• determining the time elapsed between the transport of the new data and the most recent previous data transported using the first data transport mechanism;
• calculating a drained amount using the time elapsed and the drain rate function;
• subtracting the drained amount from the total amount associated with transporting all transported data using the first data transport mechanism so as to obtain an adjusted total amount of all transported data using the first data transporting mechanism;
• and
• indicating that the data transport should be switched to the second data transport mechanism if the adjusted total amount of all transported data using the first data transporting mechanism exceeds the cutover value.

A computer program product for allocating network resources for data transport between a source network node and a destination network node, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising:
• computer-readable program code which examines an id in a header associated with a data transport using a first data transport mechanism from a source node to a destination node over a network to determine a planning horizon time interval and a bucket with an associated bucket size;
• computer-readable program code which determines a cost function associated with using the first data transport mechanism to transport data from the source node to the destination node over the network;
• computer-readable program code which determines a cost function associated with using the second data transport mechanism to transport data from the source node to the destination node over the network;
• computer-readable program code which combines the cost function associated with the first data transport mechanism with the cost function associated with the second data transport mechanism so as to create a cutover value representing the cost of data transport necessary to switch from the first data transport mechanism to the second data transport mechanism;
• computer-readable program code which generates a drain rate function associated with the bucket;
• computer-readable program code means for waiting for new data to be transported using the first data transport mechanism;
• computer-readable program code which adds an amount associated with transporting the new data to a bucket;
• computer-readable program code which determines the time elapsed between the transport of the new data and the most recent previous data transported using the first data transport mechanism;
• computer-readable program code which calculates a drained amount using the time elapsed and the drain rate function;
• computer-readable program code which subtracts the drained amount from the total amount associated with transporting all transported data using the first data transport mechanism so as to obtain an adjusted total amount of all transported data using the first data transporting mechanism;
• and
• computer-readable program code which indicates that the data transport should be switched to the second data transport mechanism if the adjusted total amount of all transported data using the first data transporting mechanism exceeds the cutover value.