Patent ID: 7573897

Claim:
A method for cyclically allocating time slots to a plurality of traffic containers (T-CONTs) each included in one or more optical network units (ONUs) for transmitting respective data based on known respective service level agreements for each of said T-CONTs, said method performs by a grand scheduler, comprising: allocating fixed time slots in a current cycle to a fixed subset of T-CONTs; receiving at least one of a status report and usage information relating to a non-fixed subset of T-CONTs; determining bandwidth demand for each T-CONT in said non-fixed subset of T-CONTs based on said at least one of said status report and said usage information; predicting bandwidth demand for each T-CONT in said non-fixed subset of T-CONTs based on at least usage information; dynamically allocating time slots in the current cycle to said non-fixed subset of T-CONTs based on bandwidth availability, the predicted bandwidth demand, and the determined bandwidth demand; and combining said fixed allocated time slots and the dynamically allocated time slots into a grant vector.