Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and methods for scheduling packets in a broadband data stream

US6987732B2 · kind B2 · utility

46Cited by
7References
38Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 15, 2000
Grant dateJan 17, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 11, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L2012/5679
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A packet scheduler includes a packet manager interface, a policer, a congestion manager, a scheduler, and a virtual output queue (VOQ) handler. The policer assigns a priority to each packet. Depending on congestion levels, the congestion manager determines whether to send a packet based on the packet's priority assigned by the policer. The scheduler schedules packets in accordance with configured rates for virtual connections and group shapers. A scheduled packet is queued at a virtual output queue (VOQ) by the VOQ handler. In one embodiment, the VOQ handler sends signals to a packet manager (through the packet manager interface) to instruct the packet manager to transmit packets in a scheduled order.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.