Patent ID: 7804776

Claim:
A method, comprising: storing a first plurality of data transmission rates in a register, wherein each of the first plurality of data transmission rates are spaced from each other by a first incremental value; storing a second plurality of data transmission rates in a register, wherein the rates of the second plurality of data transmission rates are greater than the rates of the first plurality of data transmission rates and wherein each of the second plurality of data transmission rates are spaced from each other by a second incremental value that is greater than the first incremental value; storing a third plurality of data transmission rates in a register, wherein the rates of the third plurality of data transmission rates are greater than the rates of the second plurality of data transmission rates and wherein each of the third plurality of data transmission rates are spaced from each other by a third incremental value greater than the second incremental value, wherein the second incremental value is at least three times larger than the first incremental value, and wherein the third incremental value is at least ten times larger than the first incremental value; receiving a request to transmit data over a port of a switch at a requested transmission rate; selecting one of the first plurality of data transmission rates or one of the second data transmission rates or one of the third data transmission rates at which to transmit data over the port, wherein the selected transmission rate is based on the requested transmission rate; and transmitting data through the port using the selected data transmission rate.