Patent ID: 6392994
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
Apparatus for transmitting messages associated with a plurality of connections, said apparatus comprising:transmission equipment for receiving, segmenting and multiplexing multiple messages, receiving each of said multiple messages into one or more data units, multiplexing said data units from various connections into a single stream for transport over a physical interface at an output transmission rate, said transmission equipment comprising a segmentation means for segmenting each of said multiple messages into said data units and a multiplexer means for multiplexing said data units into said single stream; bandwidth allocation means associated with said transmission equipment for dynamically allocating a portion of said output transmission rate to one of said various connections; a scheduler, connected to said bandwidth allocation means, for scheduling transfer of said multiple messages to said single stream and for allocating a substantially maximum permissible portion of said output transmission rate to each of said various connections substantially when its message is transferred to said transmission equipment in order to minimize interleaving of said data units from said various connections, said scheduler transferring messages to said single stream by one of (a) receiving said multiple messages directly from said various connections and transferring said multiple messages to said segmentation means which substantially immediately transfers said multiple messages to said multiplexing means,and (b) receiving said data units from said segmentation means and transferring groups of said data units to said multiplexing means, each of said groups corresponding to a message of said multiple messages, said scheduler being enabled to set a transmission rate for each of said various connections whose message is being transmitted to said maximum permissible portion of said output transmission rate when transmitting said message, said maximum permissible portion of said output transmission rate for a given connection at a given time being the lesser of (i) a pre-specified peak transmission rate for said given connection and (ii) all unused bandwidth at said given time allocated to a service class to which said given connection belongs.