US Patent 8001365 Exchange of processing metric information between nodes

Method and nodes are provided for propagating between the nodes information about processing capacity of peer nodes. Two types of signals are sent from propagating nodes towards their peer nodes. A propagating node sends first signal type at a constant rate and a second signal type at a variable rate. A ratio of the rates calculated at a peer node represents the processing capacity available a propagating node. Sequence numbers may be added to signals of the first and second type in order to assist peer nodes in detecting capacity issues.