Patent ID: 7522624
Filing Date: 2009-04-21
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A switching unit comprising: a switch core fabric, an output termination module (Om, 1≦m≦M) coupled to said switch core fabric, an input termination module (In, 1≦n≦N) coupled to said switch core fabric, said output termination module comprising: said switching unit further comprising, as forming part of said input termination module, of said switch core fabric and of said output termination module, at least point-to-point transmission means adapted to convey data units from at least said ingress queue to at least said egress queue, said at least point-to-point transmission means being considered, with respect to said ingress queue and to said egress queue, as a virtual ingress-to-egress pipe connecting said ingress queue to said egress queue, wherein said output termination module further comprises a measurement means coupled to said egress scheduler, and adapted to determine whether said egress queue is scheduled below expectation during a first pre-determined period of time by comparing an actual scheduled data rate to an expected scheduled data rate which is based at least on a service share allotted to a respective egress queue, and said switching unit further comprises a flow controller coupled to said measurement means, which flow controller increases bandwidth of the virtual ingress-to-egress pipe during a second pre-determined period of time subsequent to the first pre-determined period of time, if said egress queue is determined to be scheduled below expectation during said first pre-determined period of time.