Hardware Queue Manager for Scheduling Requests in a Processor

A method comprising:

• detecting, by a hardware queue manager in a processor, that a first class lacks valid requests to be scheduled, the first class comprising a first plurality of scheduling queues, the first class associated with a first credit count;
• selecting, by the hardware queue manager, a second class based on a second credit count associated with the second class, the second class comprising a second plurality of scheduling queues;
• in response to a selection of the second class based on the second credit count:
• incrementing, by the hardware queue manager, the first credit count associated with the first class;
• and
• selecting, by the hardware queue manager, a queue in the selected second class.

A system comprising:

• a processor comprising a plurality of processing engines and a queue manager unit, the queue manager unit to:
• detect that a first class lacks valid requests to be scheduled, the first class comprising a first set of queues, the first class associated with a first credit count;
• select a second class based on a second credit count associated with the second class, the second class comprising a second set of queues;
• in response to a selection of the second class based on the second credit count:
• increment the first credit count associated with the first class;
• and
• select a queue in the selected second class;
• and
• a system memory coupled to the processor.