System and method for tracking maximum throughput and SLA compliance

1. A method for controlling maximum throughput for communications, the method comprising:

determining a frame size of each packet communicated to a user network interface (UNI);

determining a maximum throughput in response to the determined frame size of each packet and a minimum and maximum transmission unit size associated with the frame size communicated to the UNI;

measuring frames per second at the UNI;

determining an amount of loss at the UNI if any; and

communicating a message indicating the maximum throughput, the amount of loss, and the frames per second in response to determining there is loss at the UNI.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the loss is acceptable and an service level agreement (SLA) is considered to be compliant in response to determining that loss occurs and the frames per second are greater than the maximum throughput, wherein the maximum throughput is a plurality of thresholds determined in response to the frame size of each packet utilized by a network communicating with the UNI.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the packets represent test packets.

4. The method of claim 1 , determining a service level agreement (SLA) is violated in response to less than a percentage of a total amount of available bandwidth being utilized and determining there is loss.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

dynamically determining compliance with the service level agreement (SLA) in response to thresholds associated with frame size;

reporting compliance with the SLA in the message, reporting further comprising storing network conditions at UNI at the time of the loss.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:

wherein dynamically determining compliance is performed utilizing a table relating the frame size and a port speed to the maximum throughput in terms of frames per second.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

communicating service level agreement (SLA) compliance in the message, the SLA including a throughput range associated with potential frame sizes communicated through the UNI.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

rate limiting the packets communicated to the UNI in response to exceeding the maximum throughput.

9. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:

limiting communication of the packets sent from the UNI in response to exceeding the maximum throughput.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the measuring and multiple determining steps are performed by one or more counters.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining the maximum throughput further comprises:

utilizing clock skew and inter-frame gap to measure the maximum throughput.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the message includes an alarm generated in response to violation of a service level agreement (SLA).

13. A system for controlling communications based on a maximum throughput, the system comprising:

a UNI operable to communicate with a plurality of UNIs;

a network operable to communicate packets between the UNI and the plurality of UNIs; and

wherein the UNI includes performance logic operable to:

determine an average frame size of packets communicated to a UNI;

determine the maximum throughput in response to the determined average frame size of packets communicated to the UNI and utilizing a minimum and maximum transmission unit size;

measure frames per second at the UNI;

determine an amount of loss at the UNI; and

communicate a message to one or more users indicating the maximum throughput and compliance with a service level agreement (SLA) in response to detecting loss at the UNI.

14. The system according to claim 13 , further comprising:

a rate limiter for shaping packet traffic, the rate limiter limiting the packets communicated to the UNI in response to the maximum throughput.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the performance logic dynamically determines compliance with an SLA utilizing a plurality of thresholds for throughput associated with frame sizes utilized by the network.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the frame loss is acceptable and an SLA is considered to be compliant in response to determining that frame loss occurs and the UNI frames per second are greater than the maximum throughput, the message including frame size information, the amount of loss, and the frames per second.

17. A UNI operable to regulate communications utilizing a maximum throughput comprising:

a processor for executing a set of instructions; and

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory operable to store the set of instructions, wherein the set of instructions are executed to:

determine an average frame size of packets communicated to a user network interface (UNI);

determine the maximum throughput in response to the determined average frame size of packets and associated minimum and maximum transmission unit size communicated to the UNI;

measure frames per second at the user network interface (UNI);

determine an amount of loss at the UNI; and

communicate a message to one or more users indicating the maximum throughput, the average frame size of the packets, the amount of loss, and the frames per second in response to determining there is loss.

18. The UNI according to claim 17 , wherein the loss is acceptable and a service level agreement (SLA) is considered to be compliant in response to determining that loss occurs and a measured throughput is greater than the maximum throughput.

19. The UNI according to claim 17 , further comprising:

dynamically determining compliance with the SLA utilizing thresholds associated with frame sizes, the compliance with the SLA being reported in the message and stored in one or more databases.

20. The UNI according to claim 19 , wherein the determining is performed utilizing a table relating the frame size and port speed to the maximum throughput in terms of frames per second.