Communication node, a receiving node and methods therein

1. A method, in a communication node, for handling a packet to a destination node in a communications network, the method comprising:

associating the packet with a remaining value, the remaining value being a packet value reduced by a threshold value of an outgoing link from the communication node towards the destination node, the threshold value corresponding to a congestion level of the outgoing link; and

handling the packet based on the remaining value, the handling comprising determining whether to drop or to transmit the packet along the outgoing link based on the remaining value;

receiving a first packet of feedback, over the outgoing link and from another communication node, indicating a second threshold value; and

adding the threshold value to the first packet of feedback and forwarding the first packet of feedback over an incoming link.

2. The method of claim 1 :

further comprising receiving the packet with the packet value over the incoming link to the communication node;

wherein the associating comprises replacing the packet value with the remaining value; and

wherein the handling comprises transmitting the packet with the remaining value.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a respective packet of feedback over at least one other outgoing link, the first packet of feedback and each respective packet of feedback comprising a value which corresponds to a congestion level towards the destination node; and

performing load balancing, over the outgoing link and the at least one other outgoing link, taking the values of the first packet of feedback and each respective packet of feedback into account.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

combining the values of the respective feedback packets into one combined value;

attaching the combined value with the threshold value to the first packet of feedback.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the combining comprises averaging the respective values, and/or taking a split ratio for load balancing into account.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first packet of feedback comprises a value which corresponds to a congestion level at the another communication node, the method further comprising:

copying the value from the first packet of feedback to one or more second packets of feedback;

adding the threshold value to the one or more second packets of feedback; and

transmitting each of the one or more second packets of feedback over a respective incoming link towards a respective communication node.

7. The method of claim 1 :

wherein the first packet of feedback carries one value per destination node being multiplexed into the first packet of feedback;

wherein adding the threshold value to the first packet of feedback comprises:

de-aggregating the value per destination node;

updating the value for each destination node by adding the threshold value to the value per destination node;

re-aggregating the updated values into the first packet of feedback.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the handling comprises:

dropping the packet when the remaining value is zero or below;

marking the packet with the remaining value and transmitting the packet along the outgoing link when the remaining value is above zero.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting one or more packets with a remaining value of zero or below for probing the outgoing link.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the handling comprises prioritizing packets based on level of remaining values respectively comprised therein.

11. A communication node for handling a packet to a destination node in a communications network, the communication node comprising:

one or more processing circuits configured to:

associate the packet with a remaining value, the remaining value being a packet value reduced by a threshold value of an outgoing link from the communication node towards the destination node, the threshold value corresponding to a congestion level of the outgoing link; and

handle the packet based on the remaining value by determining whether to drop or to transmit the packet along the outgoing link based on the remaining value;

receive a first packet of feedback, over the outgoing link and from another communication node, indicating a second threshold value; and

add the threshold value to the first packet of feedback and forward the first packet of feedback over an incoming link.

12. A method, in a communication node, for handling a packet to a destination node in a communications network, the method comprising:

associating the packet with a remaining value, the remaining value being a packet value reduced by a threshold value of an outgoing link from the communication node towards the destination node, the threshold value corresponding to a congestion level of the outgoing link; and

handling the packet based on the remaining value, the handling comprising determining whether to drop or to transmit the packet along the outgoing link based on the remaining value;

receiving a respective packet of feedback over the outgoing link and at least one other outgoing link, each respective packet of feedback comprising a value which corresponds to a congestion level towards the destination node; and

performing load balancing, over the outgoing link and the at least one other outgoing link, taking the values of the respective packets of feedback into account.

13. The method of claim 12 :

further comprising receiving the packet with the packet value over an incoming link to the communication node;

wherein the associating comprises replacing the packet value with the remaining value; and

wherein the handling comprises transmitting the packet with the remaining value.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

adding the threshold value to a received packet of feedback and forwarding the received packet of feedback over an incoming link.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

copying the value from any of the received packets of feedback to one or more first packets of feedback;

adding the threshold value to the one or more first packets of feedback; and

transmitting the one or more first packets of feedback over respective incoming links towards respective other communication nodes.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

combining the values of the respective packets of feedback into one combined value;

attaching the combined value with the threshold value to a first packet of feedback;

transmitting the first packet of feedback over an incoming link towards another communication node.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the combining comprises averaging the values of the respective packets of feedback, and/or taking a split ratio for load balancing into account.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein a received packet of feedback carries one value per destination node being multiplexed into the received packet of feedback, the method further comprising:

de-aggregating the value per destination node;

updating the value for each destination node by adding the threshold value to the value per destination node;

re-aggregating the updated values into the received packet of feedback; and

transmitting the received packet of feedback over an incoming link towards another communication node.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the handling comprises:

dropping the packet when the remaining value is zero or below;

marking the packet with the remaining value and transmitting the packet along the outgoing link when the remaining value is above zero.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising transmitting one or more packets with a remaining value of zero or below for probing the outgoing link.

21. The method of claim 12 , wherein the handling comprises prioritizing packets based respective remaining values comprised therein.

22. A communication node for handling a packet to a destination node in a communications network, the communication node comprising:

one or more processing circuits configured to:

associate the packet with a remaining value, the remaining value being a packet value reduced by a threshold value of an outgoing link from the communication node towards the destination node, the threshold value corresponding to a congestion level of the outgoing link; and

handle the packet based on the remaining value by determining whether to drop or to transmit the packet along the outgoing link based on the remaining value;

receive a respective packet of feedback over the outgoing link and at least one other outgoing link, the respective packet of feedback comprising a value which corresponds to a congestion level towards the destination node; and

perform load balancing, over the outgoing link and the at least one other outgoing link, taking the values of the respective packets of feedback into account.