Patent ID: 7792098

Claim:
A packet flow control method for a switching node of a data transfer network, said method comprising: actively managing space allocations in a central queue for a plurality of ports of a switching node of a data transfer network; and wherein the actively managing is based on a variable amount of unused space available in the central queue, the unused space available in the central queue comprising vacated allocated space and unallocated space, and the actively managing further comprises separately tracking the vacated allocated space and the unallocated space currently available in the central queue, wherein the vacated allocated space comprises space that is currently allocated to a port of the plurality of ports and which has been used to buffer a received packet and been vacated as the result of the packet being transferred or discarded, and the unallocated spaced comprises space that is not currently allocated to any port of the plurality of ports, and wherein the actively managing comprises allocating differently the vacated allocated space and the unallocated space to the plurality of ports.