Call admission control/session management based on N source to destination severity levels for IP networks

In a first aspect, an apparatus may include a first node and a second node. The first node may be configured to transmit packets of data to the second node. A first processor may be associated with the first node and a second processor may be associated with a second node. The second processor may be configured to calculate a severity level. The severity level may then be transmitted to the first node so that the first processor can determined a call admission policy (CAC/SM) policy to regulate the transmission of packets of data from the first node to the second node. In one embodiment, the number of severity levels associated with a particular network configuration may vary according to sensitivity.