Abstract: A session admission process is provided which identifies the weakest link in a route between a first node and a second node and determines if the route is able to cope if the session is admitted.

Abstract: The present invention provides a communications network comprising a plurality of routers and a plurality of communications links which interconnect the routers and a global network management module. The global network management module is in communication with a number of diverse information sources, such as television listings, social networking sites, user preferences, historical data relating to the accessing of content, etc. such that the global network management module can make a prediction as to the likelihood that a particular network traffic event will occur and the demands that such a traffic event will place on the network. If the global network management module decides that the traffic event will occur then it will pre-configure the communications network such that the traffic generated by the event can be carried across the network within pre-defined quality thresholds and without unnecessarily effecting other traffic being carried on the network.

Abstract: The present invention provides a communications network which is divided into a plurality of segments, with, each segment comprising one or more routers and one or more communications links that connect the routers. Each of the segments also comprises a segment management module. Each of the segment management modules reports to a supervisory management module and the communications network may comprise one or more supervisory management modules. If a segment management module predicts that a QoS threshold will be breached then it may re-route a data flow within that segment. If such a re-route is not possible then it will send a request to its supervisory management module to initiate a re-routing to a further segment.

Abstract: The present invention provides a communications network which is divided into a plurality of segments, with each segment comprising one or more routers and one or more communications links that connect the routers. Quality of service (QoS) thresholds can be defined for each of the segments and if it is predicted that one of these thresholds is to be breached in one of the segments, for example due to a communications link or a router being overloaded, then a segment management module associated with that segment will re-route the traffic.

Abstract: The present invention provides a segmented network in which each segment comprises one or more routers, one or more communications links to provide connectivity between the router(s) and a segment management module. The segment management module uses operational data to predict the future performance of each element. If the predicted performance will breach a threshold value then a data flow may be re-routed. Re-routing between different segments can lead to network management problems and so the present invention discloses methods by which: segments can expand to acquire a router from another segment; segments can subdivide; and segments can merge together, particularly if a segment comprises too few routers.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a system that predicts network events and triggers a pre-emptive response. An example implementation predicts network link failures and creates a change in the network before the failure actually happens by instigating policy-based adjustment of routing parameters. In particular, an embodiment of the invention operates in two phases. In the first phase the historical operation of a network is observed (B.4.2), to determine observed relationships between link or cluster failures that have occurred, and subsequent failures of different links or clusters. From these observed relationships failure rules can be derived (B.4.4) that are then applied to control routing in the network during a second, control, phase.