Patent ID: 7492776

Claim:
A network connection system for connecting a first communication network and a plurality of user terminals when a second communication network is interposed between said first communication network and said plurality of user terminals, said second communication network employing a second protocol different from a first protocol employed in said first communication network, said system comprising: a scheduling apparatus including: a classification processing unit for classifying data conforming to said first protocol received from said communication network based on quality guaranteed classes set thereto; an overhead amount correction unit for correcting an overhead amount between a data rate associated with said first protocol and a data rate associated with said second protocol to convert received rate information on said second protocol to the rate based on said first protocol; a weighting coefficient calculation unit for calculating a weighting coefficient based on said rate calculated by said overhead amount correction unit such that a minimally guaranteed rate is assured for a minimum rate guaranteed class among classes classified by said classification processing unit; a weighting scheduler for scheduling data conforming to said first protocol of said minimum rate guaranteed class and of a weighting applied class among said classified classes based on the weighting coefficient calculated by said weighting coefficient calculation unit to deliver the data in accordance with the scheduling; and a scheduler for scheduling the data conforming to said first protocol from said weighting scheduler such that the data conforming to said first protocol is delivered at a transmission rate equal to or lower than said rate calculated by said overhead amount correction unit to deliver the data in accordance with the scheduling; a protocol converter for converting the data conforming to said first protocol after said scheduling apparatus has shaped the transmission rate therefor to data conforming to said second protocol; and a multiplexer including a current data detector for supplying said scheduling apparatus with said rate information as indicative of a currently set reception rate for said user terminals, said multiplexer being configured to transmit to each of said user terminals the data conforming to said second protocol from said protocol converter or the data conforming to said first protocol after said scheduling apparatus has shaped the transmission rate therefor.