Patent ID: 7621162

Claim:
A hierarchical multiplexing method comprising the steps of: receiving a protocol data unit (PDU) associated with one of a plurality of flows; sequentially processing the PDU at each of a plurality of hierarchical levels, said processing at each of the plurality of hierarchical levels consisting of: characterizing the flow at a current hierarchical level; gating the PDU wherein the PDU is either passed or dropped based upon the character of the flow at the current level, wherein the gating includes applying a color to the PDUs of the flows based upon traffic parameters specific to those flows at a second hierarchical level characterizing the flow at the current hierarchical level; additionally gating the PDU based upon the character of the flow at the second hierarchical level, wherein the additional gating includes employing a plurality of measure/mark modules to measure how much data is flowing per given time period; and outputting the gated PDU and the additionally gated PDU in a single stream via a hierarchical multiplexor if the PDU is passed at each of the plurality of hierarchical levels.