Patent ID: 9106574
Filing Date: 2015-08-11
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: receiving a plurality of data packets at an ingress port of a network element, wherein each data packet of the plurality of data packets belongs to one of a plurality of classes; transmitting a first portion of the plurality of data packets from the ingress port to a buffer maintained by an egress port of the network element based on a metering policy, wherein the buffer has four thresholds comprising an ON threshold, a LOW threshold, a HI threshold, and an OFF threshold, and wherein the transmitting further comprises: responsive to the buffer being below the ON threshold, enabling transmission of classes of the plurality of classes; responsive to the buffer being above the LOW threshold, enabling and disabling transmission of the plurality of classes of the plurality of data packets according to the metering policy using a plurality of weights; responsive to the buffer being above the OFF threshold, disabling transmission of classes of the plurality of data packets; and responsive to the buffer being below the HI threshold, enabling and disabling transmission of the plurality of classes of the plurality of data packets according to the metering policy using a plurality of weights; fetching the first portion of the plurality of data packets from the buffer according to a scheduling policy; and retaining a remaining portion of the plurality of data packets at the ingress port; wherein the metering policy and the scheduling policy each have a plurality of weights associated with the plurality of classes and wherein a maximum credit for the plurality of classes is larger than a largest weight of the plurality of weights.