Patent ID: 7653069

Claim:
In a node to forward data on a switch fabric, a method comprising: scheduling with a schedule manager the forwarding of data associated with one of a plurality of traffic classes and to be transmitted through one of a plurality of ports coupled to the switch fabric, each port to be associated with a queue to store data to be forwarded from that port, wherein scheduling includes a two stage arbitration scheme that includes: a first stage to select one queue for each traffic class, then a second stage to select one queue from among the queues previously selected for each traffic class selected in the first stage, wherein the first stage and the second stage use an arbitration algorithm to select the one queue, the arbitration algorithm to include at least one of: a weighted fair queue algorithm, a weighted round robin algorithm, and a round robin algorithm, wherein the weighted fair queue algorithm is based, at least in part, on determining a next departure time and selecting a queue with the earliest departure time.