Patent ID: 6661774
Filing Date: 2003-12-09
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method of scheduling transmission of a plurality of cells of a first signal packet associated with a first virtual channel address using a scheduling ring having a plurality of slots and a pointer operable to indicate a current slot, the method comprising:advancing the pointer to a slot associated with the first virtual channel address; initiating transmission of a previously scheduled first cell associated with the first virtual channel address; scheduling transmission of a previously unscheduled second cell associated with the first virtual channel address for transmission at a later time, wherein scheduling transmission of the previously unscheduled second cell comprises: identifying an ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring, a position of the ideal scheduling slot based at least in part on a desired value of an inter-cell gap and a transmission error associated with the first signal packet, the transmission error comprising a difference between a desired value of the inter-cell gap and a last value of the inter-cell gap, the last value of the inter-cell gap comprising a difference between the slot currently being serviced and the slot associated with a previously serviced cell of the first signal packet; identifying a closest-to-ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring comprising the closest slot at or after the ideal scheduling slot having a transmission priority lower than a transmission priority associated with the first signal packet; and associating the first virtual channel address with the closest-to-ideal scheduling slot in the transmission schedule; and advancing the pointer to the next slot.