Software distributed, hardware aggregated hierarchical traffic management

A method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of packets;
• and
• executing, by a plurality of processor units, a plurality of transmission sub-interfaces, each transmission sub-interface to perform hierarchical quality of service (HQoS) scheduling on a distinct subset of the plurality of packets, wherein each transmission sub-interface is to schedule its subset of the plurality of packets for transmission by a network interface controller by assigning the packets of the subset to a plurality of transmission queues that each correspond to a distinct traffic class;
• wherein a first transmission sub-interface is to initially assign a first bandwidth profile to the traffic class corresponding to the first transmission queue, wherein the first bandwidth profile specifies a bandwidth for the traffic class that is equal to a minimum required bandwidth for the traffic class;
• wherein the first transmission sub-interface is to assign a second bandwidth profile to the traffic class corresponding to the first transmission queue based on a determination that the first bandwidth profile has been active for the traffic class for a period of time, wherein the second bandwidth profile specifies a bandwidth for the traffic class that is greater than the minimum required bandwidth for the traffic class.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media with code stored thereon, wherein the code is executable to cause a machine to:

• process a plurality of received packets;
• and
• execute a plurality of transmission sub-interfaces, each transmission sub-interface to perform hierarchical quality of service (HQoS) scheduling on a distinct subset of the plurality of packets, wherein each transmission sub-interface is to schedule its subset of the plurality of packets for transmission by a network interface controller by assigning the packets of the subset to a plurality of transmission queues that each correspond to a distinct traffic class;
• wherein a first transmission sub-interface is to initially assign a first bandwidth profile to the traffic class corresponding to the first transmission queue, wherein the first bandwidth profile specifies a bandwidth for the traffic class that is equal to a minimum required bandwidth for the traffic class;
• wherein the first transmission sub-interface is to assign a second bandwidth profile to the traffic class corresponding to the first transmission queue based on a determination that the first bandwidth profile has been active for the traffic class for a period of time, wherein the second bandwidth profile specifies a bandwidth for the traffic class that is greater than the minimum required bandwidth for the traffic class.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media with code stored thereon, wherein the code is executable to cause a machine to:

• reallocate bandwidth reserved for a first group of at least one subscriber to transmit packets of a first traffic class during a transmission round, wherein the reallocating bandwidth comprises:
• determining an unused amount of bandwidth reserved for the first group to transmit packets of the first class;
• and
• allocating at least a portion of the unused reserved bandwidth to a second group of at least one subscriber to transmit packets of the first traffic class during the transmission round;
• execute a transmission sub-interface to schedule transmission of packets for the first group, wherein the transmission sub-interface is to adjust a rate at which the transmission sub-interface assigns packets to a transmission queue based on an occupancy of the transmission queue;
• wherein the transmission sub-interface is to initially assign a first bandwidth profile to a traffic class corresponding to a first transmission queue, wherein the first bandwidth profile specifies a bandwidth for the traffic class that is equal to a minimum required bandwidth for the traffic class;
• wherein the transmission sub-interface is to assign a second bandwidth profile to the traffic class corresponding to the first transmission queue based on a determination that the first bandwidth profile has been active for the traffic class for a period of time, wherein the second bandwidth profile specifies a bandwidth for the traffic class that is greater than the minimum required bandwidth for the traffic class.