Abstract: A method of controlling packet traffic in an IP network of originating, receiving and intermediate nodes to meet performance objectives established by service level agreements. Traffic statistics and performance data such as delay and loss rates relating to traffic flows are collected at intermediate nodes. A control server processes the collected data to determines data flow rates for different priorities of traffic. A static directory node is used to look up inter-node connections and determine initial traffic classes corresponding to those connections. The rates are combined with the initial traffic classes to define codes for encoding the headers of packets to determine their network priority.

Abstract: A method of providing a rate guarantee to individual or groups of flows in a router through intelligent management of buffers. Rate guarantees are provided by intelligently allocating and isolating the buffers available to each flow. In its most basic form, the method applies to output queued network devices with a simple FIFO scheduler, where a number of streams some with rate reservations are sought to be multiplexed onto an outgoing link. The method involves strictly partitioning the buffer into portions strictly reserved for each flow in proportion to its link reservation. This ensures that each stream obtains the link reservation rate in a scalable manner. A particular embodiment of the invention allow for a portion of the buffer to be strictly partitioned while allowing streams full access to the remainder of the buffer.

Abstract: A polling procedure providing the capabilities to assign and dynamically modify a user's communication parameters (i.e., response allocation and polling rate) based on the user's bandwidth requirements. In addition, the polling procedure instructs the users to delay their responses as a function of round-trip propagation delay and remaining response allocation for previously polled users to ensure that poll responses from separate users do not overlap.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the issue of providing end-to-end delay guarantees in a multi-node communication system. More specifically, the present invention addresses the problem of specifying operational parameters of rate-controlled service disciplines in a communication network in order to efficiently provide end-to-end delay guarantees. The key contribution is a method for specifying leaky bucket parameters as well as scheduling delays at each node, which are used as inputs to the rate-controlled service discipline.

Abstract: A method and system for providing data authentication, within a data communication environment, in a manner which is simple, fast, and provably secure. A data message to be sent is partitioned into data blocks. Each data block is combined with a block index to create a word. A pseudo-random function is applied to each word to create a plurality of enciphered data strings. An identifying header, comprising the identity of the sender and a counter value, is also enciphered using a pseudo-random function. These enciphered data strings and header are logically combined to create a tag. As the enciphering of a particular word occurs independent of the other words, each block can be enciphered independently of the others. The method and system can thus be performed and structured in either a parallel or pipelined fashion. A receiving component or system generates a second tag which can then be compared with the transmitted tag to determine message authentication.

Abstract: A method and system for providing data authentication, within a data communication environment, in a manner which is simple, fast, and provably secure. A data message to be sent is partitioned into data blocks. Each data block is combined with a block index to create a word. A pseudo-random function is applied to each word to create a plurality of enciphered data strings. An identifying header, comprising the identity of the sender and a counter value, is also enciphered using a pseudo-random function. These enciphered data strings and header are logically combined to create a tag. As the enciphering of a particular word occurs independent of the other words, each block can be enciphered independently of the others. The method and system can thus be performed and structured in either a parallel or pipelined fashion. A receiving component or system generates a second tag which can then be compared with the transmitted tag to determine message authentication.