Patent ID: 6956849

Claim:
A line card within a switching node coupled to a network, said line card comprising: a link interface for transmitting communications along a communication link within said network; said link interface including a plurality of logical interfaces, a sum of minimum required bandwidths of said plurality of logical interfaces being less than a link capacity; each of said plurality of logical interfaces including a plurality of class of service buffers (CoSBs), a sum of minimum required bandwidths of said plurality of CoSBs being less than a minimum bandwidth of each of said plurality of logical interfaces; each of said plurality of logical interfaces including a plurality of partitions, a sum of minimum required bandwidths of said plurality of partitions being less than a minimum bandwidth of each of said plurality of logical interfaces; each of said plurality of CoSBs including a first plurality of classes of service (CoSs), a sum of minimum required bandwidths of said first plurality of CoSs being less than a minimum bandwidth of each of said plurality of CoSBs; each of said plurality of partitions including a second plurality of CoSs, a sum of minimum required bandwidths of said second plurality of CoSs being less than a minimum bandwidth of each of said plurality of partitions; and wherein a first aggregation of said first plurality of CoSs for said plurality of CoSBs is the same as a second aggregation of said second plurality of CoSs for said plurality of partitions.