Circuit and method for shaping traffic in a virtual connection network

The method of claim 15, wherein determining the number of requests needed comprises:

• dividing the number of requests by the number of sectors and assigning the integer value of the division as the base number of requests per sector;
• distributing the remainder from the division operation over the sectors;
• and
• retrieving a number from a second memory that indicates the spacing of requests within the sector.

A traffic shaper that allocates time slots to shape a stream of data packets, the traffic shaper comprising:

• means for receiving a request to establish a virtual connection with a selected data rate;
• means for determining the number of requests needed in each sector of a measurement window of timeslots to achieve the selected data rate;
• and
• means for generating requests for timeslots for each sector according to a stored pattern based on the selected data rate.

The traffic shaper of claim 18, wherein the means for determining the number of requests comprises:

• a K bit counter;
• a first memory that determines the number of requests to be made over a sector of timeslots based on the total number of requests to be generated and based on the X most significant bits of the counter;
• and
• a second memory that determines the spacing of the requests in the sector based on the output of the first memory and the (K-X) least significant bits of the counter.

The traffic shaper of claim 18, wherein the means for determining the number of requests comprises:

• a K bit counter;
• a decoder coupled to receive a number of bits from the K bit counter and a number of bits from a signal that indicates the number of requests needed to achieve a selected data rate;
• an adder coupled to receive a number of other bits from a signal that indicates the number of requests needed to achieve a selected data rate and coupled to receive the output of the adder;
• wherein the decoder and the adder determine the number of requests needed in a number of segments of the time window so as to achieve the selected data rate;
• and
• a memory coupled to receive the output of the adder and a number of other bits from the K bit counter so as to spread the requests out over each segment of the time window.