Patent ID: 7420918

Claim:
A method of scheduling data bursts in a burst switching network, wherein data bursts are communicated between nodes over one or more channels via fixed length slots, each burst occupying one or more slots in a channel, the method comprising the steps of: determining a data burst window (“BW”) of data bursts addressed to a common destination, wherein the BW includes a time period equal to a set number of slots and begins at a predetermined offset time period from a time t=0; determining a resolution region (“RR”) within the BW, wherein the resolution region includes data bursts that only occupy slots completely within the boundary of the BW; determining whether a contention exists between data bursts within the BW and determining whether the contention exists between data bursts within the RR; and if a contention exists between data bursts within the RR, identifying one or more of the data bursts to be dropped using a shortest path analysis.