Patent ID: 6965607

Claim:
A packet switched communication network comprising a central node ( 10 ) and a plurality of network nodes ( 20 ) connected to said central node by a shared medium ( 100 ), wherein, traffic data is transmitted from said network nodes to said central node over said shared medium in time slots allocated by said central node, said central node including scheduling means ( 30 , 40 ) for allocating permits to a service carried by at least one network node, said scheduling means includes a plurality of sequentially accessible storage cells ( 31 , 42 ) each cell corresponding to a transmission time slot on said shared medium and being programmed with markers corresponding to delay sensitive traffic services, the number of sequentially accessible cells separating a marker for the same traffic service defines a predetermined scheduling interval essentially corresponding to the frame length of the traffic service in terms of time slots, and said central node is arranged to consult said storage cells in succession to determine whether a marker designating a delay sensitive traffic service is present and for allocating a time slot to a network node carrying a delay sensitive traffic service if a marker corresponding to said traffic service is present in a consulted cell.