1. A packet network comprising: a set of packet-switching nodes inconnected by communication links; and at least one connection resource manager (CRM) adapted to overlay a logical circuit-switched network onto at least a subset of the set of packet-switching nodes and corresponding communication links, which logical circuit-switched network provides transport for quality-of-service (QoS)-sensitive demands within the packet network, wherein the logical circuit-switched network provides a guaranteed QoS to demands it carries.