Method and system for sharing reserved bandwidth between several dependent connections in high speed packet switching networks

In a dependent connection bandwidth management system in a high speed packet switching network including a plurality of nodes interconnected with transmission trunks including links, each node having at least one physical port, a method for sharing reserved bandwidth between several dependent connections issuing from the same physical port in a node accessing the network, comprising the steps of:

• a. accounting for all connections established on every link in the network;
• b. examining each link as a candidate for being part of a selected path through the network for connecting a port to the network;
• c. generating a connection message for connecting a port to the network;
• and
• d. managing the links in accordance with the connection message and a link parameter to reserve on a trunk an aggregate bandwidth for all connections issuing from the same physical port if the path from the access node to the trunk is common to all connections.

In a high a speed packet switching network, a plurality of nodes interconnected with transmission trunks including links, each node having at least one physical port, a dependent connection bandwidth management system for sharing reserved bandwidth between several dependent connections issuing from the same physical port in a node accessing the network, comprising:

• a. means for accounting for all connections established on every link in the network;
• b. means for examining each link as a candidate for being part of a selected path through the network for connecting a port to the network;
• c. means for generating a connection message for connecting a port to the network;
• d. means for managing the links in accordance with the connection message and a link parameter to reserve on a trunk an aggregate bandwidth for all connections issuing from the same physical port if the path from the access node to the trunk is common to all connections;
• e. means for establishing a Dependent Connection table DCTp for each port of a node, the table comprising an entry for each link in the network and information required to manage the bandwidth of the link and the dependency of the port connections;
• f. means for establishing in the DCTp a bandwidth management boolean factor Ik for each link;
• g. means for setting the boolean factor to select between defined bandwidth for each dependent connection or aggregate bandwidth for all connections;
• and
• h. means for setting the boolean factor Ik equal to 1 for selecting aggregate bandwidth for all connections or setting the boolean factor Ik equal to 0 for selecting defined bandwidth for all connections.

In a dependent connection bandwidth management system in a high speed packet switching network including a plurality of nodes interconnected with transmission trunks including links, each node having at least one physical port, a method for sharing reserved bandwidth between several dependent connections issuing from the same physical port in a node accessing the network, comprising the steps of:

• a. accounting for all connections established on every link in the network;
• b. examining each link as a candidate for being part of a selected path through the network for connecting a port to the network;
• c. generating a connection message for connecting a port to the network;
• d. managing the links in accordance with the connection message and a link parameter to reserve on a trunk an aggregate bandwidth for all connections issuing from the same physical port if the path from the access node to the trunk is common to all connections;
• e. establishing a Dependent Connection table DCTp for each port of a node, the table comprising an entry for each link in the network and information required to manage the bandwidth of the link and the dependency of the port connections;
• f. establishing the DCTp a bandwidth management boolean factor Ik for each link;
• g. setting the boolean factor to select between defined bandwidth for each dependent connection or aggregate bandwidth for all connections;
• and
• h. setting the boolean factor Ik equal to 1 for selecting aggregate bandwidth for all connections or setting the boolean factor Ik equal to 0 for selecting defined bandwidth for all connections.