Patent ID: 7289443

Claim:
A method, comprising: identifying a set of requests corresponding to packets desired to be sent from a plurality of inputs across a packet switch to a particular output, the set of requests including j requests from a particular source with the ability to send k packets during a particular packet time and having a saturation level of s packets; slow-start adjusting the value of said j to a slow-start value, wherein the slow-start value is less than said k when a number of packets corresponding to the particular source is less than said s; maintaining a grant starting position; determining a grant advancement position; identifying a first n requests in a predetermined sequence starting from the grant starting position, where n is less than or equal to the maximum number of packets that can be sent in a single packet time to the particular output; and wherein the first n requests include the slow-start value number of requests from the particular source; and updating the grant starting position in response to the first n grants including a particular grant corresponding to the grant advancement position.