Application wire

1. A method of transferring data over a network, comprising:

identifying an application flow;

selecting one of a plurality of mapping schemes for the identified application flow, wherein the plurality of mapping schemes include:

a one-to-one mapping scheme configured to map a single application flow to a single Pseudowire,

a distributed mapping scheme configured to map a single application flow to a plurality of Pseudowires, wherein:

a first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires is mapped to transfer a first portion of the single application flow,

the first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires has an associated data rate threshold,

responsive to the first portion of the single application flow exceeding the associated data rate threshold of the first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires, the distributed mapping scheme is configured to split the first portion of the single application flow into a first split part of the first portion of the single application flow and a second split part of the first portion of the single application flow so that the first split part of the first portion of the single application flow does not exceed the associated data rate threshold of the first Pseudowire, the first split part of the first portion of the single application flow is mapped to the first Pseudowire, and the second first split part of the first portion of the single application flow is mapped to the plurality of Pseudowires other than the first Pseudowire, and

an aggregated mapping scheme configured to map multiple application flows to a single Pseudowire; and

mapping the application flow to a network-bound connection on one or more Pseudowires according to one of the plurality of mapping schemes.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein mapping the application flow to a network-bound connection includes forming an Application Wire.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising transferring a plurality of packets associated with the application flow via the Pseudowire.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the application flow includes data associated with a Layer-4 or above protocol stack.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein identifying the application flow includes examining a data packet header.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein identifying the application flow includes examining a data packet to obtain header information and comparing the header information with a database of application flows.

7. A method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the database is at least in part pre-populated.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein mapping the application flow is based at least in part on a database of Pseudowire information.

9. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the Pseudowire spans a plurality of intermediate nodes.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the Pseudowire spans a plurality of intermediate nodes, and wherein the plurality of intermediate nodes are standard Multi Protocol Label Switching devices.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein splitting the application flow into the plurality of streams is based at least in part on an application specific parameter associated with the application flow.

12. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein:

the plurality of streams each has an associated importance level;

the plurality of Pseudowires each has an associated priority level;

mapping the plurality of streams to a plurality of Pseudowires includes mapping one of the plurality of streams having an associated importance level that is higher than at least another one of the plurality of streams to one of the plurality of Pseudowires having a priority level that is higher than at least another one of the plurality of Pseudowires.

13. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the application flow includes a Real Time Protocol based application flow.

14. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising encapsulating a plurality of packets with Pseudowire headers, wherein the plurality of packets are associated with the application flow.

15. A method as recited in claim 14 , further comprising sending the plurality of packets over the network, and re-sequencing the plurality of packets on an egress node of the Pseudowire.

16. A method as recited in claim 15 , wherein re-sequencing the plurality of packets includes re-sequencing the plurality of packets at a Pseudowire level.

17. A method as recited in claim 15 , wherein re-sequencing the plurality of packets includes re-sequencing the plurality of packets at an application flow level.

18. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the application flow includes multicasted data.

19. A method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising performing admission control.

20. A networking system comprising:

a processor configured to:

identify an application flow;

select one of a plurality of mapping schemes for the identified application flow, wherein the plurality of mapping schemes include:

a one-to-one mapping scheme configured to map a single application flow to a single Pseudowire,

a distributed mapping scheme configured to map a single application flow to a plurality of Pseudowires, wherein:

a first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires is mapped to transfer a first portion of the single application flow,

the first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires has an associated data rate threshold,

responsive to the first portion of the single application flow exceeding the associated data rate threshold of the first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires, the distributed mapping scheme is configured to split the first portion of the single application flow into a first split part of the first portion of the single application flow and a second split part of the first portion of the single application flow so that the first split part of the first portion of the single application flow does not exceed the associated data rate threshold of the first Pseudowire, the first split part of the first portion of the single application flow is mapped to the first Pseudowire, and the second first split part of the first portion of the single application flow is mapped to the plurality of Pseudowires other than the first Pseudowire, and

an aggregated mapping scheme configured to map multiple application flows to a single Pseudowire;

map the application flow to a network-bound connection on one or more Pseudowires according to one of the plurality of mapping schemes; and

a memory coupled to the processor, configured to provide the processor with instructions.

21. A computer program product for transferring data over a network, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for:

identifying an application flow;

selecting one of a plurality of mapping schemes for the identified application flow wherein the plurality of mapping schemes include:

a one-to-one mapping scheme configured to map a single application flow to a single Pseudowire,

a distributed mapping scheme configured to map a single application flow to a plurality of Pseudowires, wherein:

a first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires is mapped to transfer a first portion of the single application flow,

the first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires has an associated data rate threshold,

responsive to the first portion of the single application flow exceeding the associated data rate threshold of the first Pseudowire of the plurality of Pseudowires, the distributed mapping scheme is configured to split the first portion of the single application flow into a first split part of the first portion of the single application flow and a second split part of the first portion of the single application flow so that the first split part of the first portion of the single application flow does not exceed the associated data rate threshold of the first Pseudowire, the first split part of the first portion of the single application flow is mapped to the first Pseudowire, and the second first split part of the first portion of the single application flow is mapped to the plurality of Pseudowires other than the first Pseudowire, and

and an aggregated mapping scheme configured to map multiple application flows are mapped to a single Pseudowire; and

mapping the application flow to a network-bound connection on one or more Pseudowires according to one of the plurality of mapping schemes.