TECHNIQUE FOR COLLECTING OPERATING INFORMATION FROM NETWORK ELEMENTS, AND FOR CONTROLLING NETWORK ELEMENT BEHAVIOR IN A FEEDBACK-BASED, ADAPTIVE DATA NETWORK

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of application specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information based upon the analysis of the information. The updated control information is fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network of the present invention may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network based upon predetermined standards or criteria.