Communication connection merge method and node to be used therefor

A node that consolidates communication connections having different destination nodes in a connection-oriented network, comprising:

• a processor that:
• determines whether a tunneling communication connection is present in a first route of an existing communication connection and in a second route of a second communication connection,
• determines whether modification of a parameter of said tunneling communication connection is possible,
• modifies the parameter of said tunneling communication connection to accommodate merging said second communication connection in said tunneling communication connection, if modification is possible, and
• merges said existing communication connection and said second communication connection on said tunneling communication connection.

A method comprising:

• determining whether a tunneling communication connection is present in an existing communication connection including a first route to a first destination node and a second communication connection to be newly set including a second route to a second destination node, where said first node and said second node are different nodes, and wherein a plurality of nodes are associated with the tunneling communication connection;
• sending a parameter modification request from one of the nodes to at least one other node;
• receiving, from the at least one other node, a parameter modification response that indicates whether modification of a parameter is possible at the at least one other node;
• fixedly modifying the parameter of the tunneling communication connection when modification of the parameter is possible at the at least one other node;
• and
• merging said communication connections on said tunneling communication connection based on the fixedly modified parameter.