Patent ID: 7310348

Claim:
A network processor for processing information elements, wherein each information element is associated with a flow and comprises at least one information element segment, the network processor comprising: a policy controller for storing an information element into at least one information segment storage unit within a memory, and determining whether an information element segment conforms to a predetermined quality of service (“QoS”); a traffic processor including: at least one shaper, each shaper associated with an egress port and at least one flow, wherein each shaper is governed by at least one QoS parameter; at least one group, wherein each group includes at least one shaper; a group arbiter for arbitrating among the at least one group to select a group; a shaper arbiter for arbitrating among the at least one shaper within the selected group to select a shaper; and a scheduler for scheduling for forwarding an information element segment associated with the selected shaper; and a forwarding processor for forwarding the selected scheduled information element segment to an egress port.