Patent ID: 6993041

Claim:
A packet transmitting apparatus for transmitting, in order, packets belonging to a plurality of groups having priorities that differ from one another, comprising: a queue controller for generating queues group by group and giving packet transmit privilege in order to elements constituting each of the queues; an assured-data-quantity setting unit for setting a data transmission quantity, which is assured by a single packet transmit privilege, for every queue element; a monitoring unit for monitoring an actual transmission quantity of a packet corresponding to a queue element to which the packet transmit privilege has been given; a control signal generator for outputting a control signal, which is for delivering the transmit privilege to the next queue element, when the actual data transmission quantity has become equal to the assured data quantity; and a packet-transmit group decision unit for deciding that a packet transmit group is a group having a highest priority among groups in which a packet corresponding to at least one queue element is awaiting to be transmitted; wherein said queue controller transmits a packet, which corresponds to a queue element having the packet transmit privilege, in the queue of the packet transmit group that has been decided by said packet-transmit group decision unit and the queue controller gives the packet transmit privilege to the next queue element based upon said control signal.