Patent ID: 6917591

Claim:
A system for allocating bandwidth comprising: a plurality of queues, each of the plurality of queues being associated with a quality of service and having a corresponding quantum value, configured to store packets arriving from the network; an output queue configured to receive packets from the plurality of queues and forward them to a channel; a bandwidth allocator circuit configured to classify received packets based on quality of service requirements and direct the packets to one of the plurality of queues, the bandwidth allocator circuit further comprising: a bandwidth differential circuit configured to determine an available quantum value based on a total amount of committed bandwidth on a downstream channel and a total amount of bandwidth on the downstream channel; and a quantum updating circuit configured to update the quantum values of each of the plurality of queues by an update quantum value corresponding to respective ones of the plurality of queues, the update quantum values being based on the available quantum value, a total reserved quantum value corresponding to packets enqueued in the plurality of queues for an update period and the quality of service associated with the respective queue.