Method and apparatus for provisioning and monitoring internet protocol quality of service

An apparatus for determining whether packet traffic can be transmitted over a communication network according to a hierarchy of at least two service classifications, comprising:

• a first system having a first processor, a first memory device capable of storing information regarding the network's topology and routing parameters, and a first connection to the communication network such that packet traffic can be transmitted from and received at the first system across the communication network to a second system having a second processor, a second memory device, and a second connection to the communication network;
• a packet transmission delivery mechanism connected to the first system capable of assigning a class-based priority transmission scheme according to the at least two service classifications;
• a reservation mechanism connected to the first system capable of reserving an amount of bandwidth along a primary transmission route for transmitting the packet traffic across the communication network;
• a determination mechanism connected to the first system capable of ascertaining whether the reservation of the amount of bandwidth along the primary transmission route is less than an overall bandwidth for the selected class-based priority transmission scheme;
• a controller for scheduling the transmission of a first set of packets across the network;
• a bandwidth allocation device connected to the first system capable of allocating sufficient bandwidth to a first class service across each of the at least one link path on the network and capable of implementing a class-based scheduling algorithm executable on the controller;
• and
• a communication network sensing mechanism connected to the first system capable of sensing the communication network's topology to determine the primary transmission route for transmitting packet traffic across the communication network according to the selected class based priority transmission scheme.

An apparatus for determining whether packet traffic can be transmitted over a communication network according to a hierarchy of service classifications, comprising:

• a first system having a first processor, a first memory device capable of storing information regarding the communication network's topology and routing parameters, the first system capable of transmitting packets over the communication network and the first system connected via the communication network to a second system having a second processor, a second memory device, and a second connection to the communication network;
• a packet transmission delivery mechanism connected to the first system and capable of assigning a class-based priority transmission scheme comprising at least a first and a second service classification level;
• a reservation system connected to the first system, and capable of requesting and reserving an amount of bandwidth along the primary transmission route for transmitting the packets, the reservation system capable of ascertaining whether the request for the amount of bandwidth along the primary transmission route is less than the overall bandwidth for the at least first and second service classification levels, and capable of accepting and denying the requests for the amount of bandwidth along the primary transmission route for transmitting the packets based on the overall bandwidth;
• a communication network sensing mechanism connected to the first system capable of sensing the communication network's topology to determine an available bandwidth along a primary transmission route for transmitting the packets over the communication network according to the assigned first and second service classification levels;
• a controller connected to the first system capable of scheduling the transmission of a first set of packets across the network;
• and
• a bandwidth allocation device connected to the first system capable of allocating sufficient bandwidth to the first class service across each of the at least one link path on the network and capable of implementing a class-based scheduling algorithm executable on the controller.

A method comprising

• processing a customer's request for a subscription to transmit packets through a network at a requested amount of bandwidth under a first service class from a starting point to a terminating point, the processing comprising
• identifying a primary traversing pathway that packets will travel from the starting point to the terminating point and a second traversing pathway that packets will travel from the starting point to the terminating point if the primary pathway experiences a failure condition, each link along the primary and secondary traversing pathways having a) a total amount of bandwidth allocated to the first service class and b) a total amount of bandwidth that was previously reserved under the first service class for pathways through the network that include that link;
• accepting the subscription in response to a determination that, for each said link along the primary and secondary traversing pathways, the difference between a) and b) is at least as great as the requested-bandwidth;
• and
• if the subscription is accepted, reserving the requested amount of bandwidth for the subscription on each of the links along the primary traversing pathway.