Fair multiplexing of transport signals across a packet-oriented network

An apparatus for emulating a synchronous transport signal across a packet-oriented network comprising:

• (a) a plurality of channel processors, each receiving a synchronous transport signal data;
• (b) a first memory element in communication with the channel processors storing the received data associated with at least one of the channel processors;
• (c) a packet processor creating a plurality of packets conforming to the protocol of a packet-oriented network using the data stored in the first memory element;
• (d) a plurality of second memory elements storing each of the created packets associated with each of the channel processors;
• (e) an arbiter comparing the amount of information stored in each of the second memory elements and selecting one of the second memory elements based on the comparison;
• and
• (f) a transmitter transmitting the packets associated with the selected memory element via the packet-oriented network.

An apparatus for emulating a synchronous transport signal across a packet-oriented network comprising:

• (a) means for receiving a data representative of a synchronous transport signal, at each of a plurality of channel processors;
• (b) means for storing the received data in a first memory element associated with at least one of the channel processors;
• (c) means for creating a plurality of packets conforming to the protocol of a packet-oriented network using the data stored in the first memory element;
• (d) means for storing each of the created packets in a plurality of second memory elements associated with each of the channel processors;
• (e) means for selecting one of the second memory elements based on the amount of information stored by each of the second memory elements;
• and
• (f) means for transmitting the packets associated with the selected memory element via the packet-oriented network.