System and method for traffic shaping packet-based signals

An integrated circuit operable to schedule transmission of a plurality of signal packets, comprising:

• a controller operable to receive control requests from a host memory and to generate scheduling requests based on the control requests received;
• a scheduling ring comprising a plurality of slots and a pointer operable to indicate a current slot;
• and
• a scheduler operable to advance the pointer to a slot associated with a first virtual channel address, to initiate transmission of a previously scheduled first cell of a signal packet associated with the first virtual channel address, and to schedule transmission of a previously unscheduled second cell of the signal packet for transmission at a later time;
• wherein the scheduler comprises a scheduling module operable to identify an ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring based at least in part on a desired inter-cell gap and a transmission error associated with the first signal packet, and to identify a closest-to-ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring comprising the closest slot at or after the ideal scheduling slot having a transmission priority lower than a transmission priority associated with the signal packet, the scheduling module further operable to associate the first virtual channel address with the closest-to-ideal scheduling slot;
• wherein the transmission error comprises a difference between a desired value of the inter-cell gap and a last value of the inter-cell gap, the last value of the inter-cell gap comprising a difference between the slot currently being serviced and the slot associated with a previously serviced cell of the first signal packet.

A system for traffic shaping the transmission of a plurality of signal packets, comprising:

• a scheduling ring comprising a plurality of slots and a pointer operable to indicate a current slot;
• and
• a scheduler operable to advance the pointer to a slot associated with a first virtual channel address, to initiate transmission of a previously scheduled first cell of a signal packet associated with the first virtual channel address, and to schedule transmission of a previously unscheduled second cell of the signal packet for transmission at a later time;
• wherein the scheduler comprises a scheduling module operable to identify an ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring based at least in part on the desired inter-cell gap and a transmission error associated with the signal packet, and to identify a closest-to-ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring comprising the closest slot at or after the ideal scheduling slot having a transmission priority lower than a transmission priority associated with the signal packet, the scheduling module further operable to associate the first virtual channel address with the closest-to-ideal scheduling slot;
• wherein the transmission error comprises a difference between a desired value of the inter-cell gap and a last value of the inter-cell gap, the last value of the inter-cell gap comprising a difference between the slot currently being serviced and the slot associated with a previously serviced cell of the first signal packet.

A method of scheduling transmission of a plurality of cells associated with a first virtual channel address using a scheduling ring having a plurality of slots, the method comprising:

• advancing a pointer to a first slot of the scheduling ring associated with the first virtual channel address, wherein each slot of the scheduling ring is associated with at most one virtual channel address at any given time;
• initiating transmission of a previously scheduled first cell associated with the first virtual channel address;
• scheduling transmission of a previously unscheduled second cell associated with the first virtual channel address, the scheduling comprising:
• identifying an ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring, a position of the ideal scheduling slot based at least in part on a desired value of an inter-cell gap and a transmission error associated with the first signal packet, the transmission error comprising a difference between a desired value of the inter-cell gap and a last value of the inter-cell gap, the last value of the inter-cell gap comprising a difference between the slot currently being serviced and the slot associated with a previously serviced cell of the first signal packet;
• and
• associating the first virtual channel address with a slot other than the first slot in the scheduling ring.

A system for traffic shaping the transmission of a plurality of signal packets, comprising:

• a scheduling ring comprising a plurality of slots and a pointer operable to indicate a current slot;
• and
• a scheduler operable to advance the pointer to a slot associated with a first virtual channel address, to initiate transmission of a previously scheduled first cell associated with the first virtual channel address, and to schedule transmission at a later time of a previously unscheduled second cell associated with the first virtual channel address;
• wherein the scheduler comprises a scheduling module operable to identify an ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring based at least in part on the desired inter-cell gap and a transmission error associated with the second cell, the transmission error comprising a difference between a desired value of the inter-cell gap and a last value of the inter-cell gap, the last value of the inter-cell gap comprising a difference between the slot currently being serviced and the slot associated with a previously serviced cell of the first signal packet;
• and
• wherein each slot of the scheduling ring is associated with at most one virtual channel address at any given time, and wherein scheduling transmission of the second cell comprises associating the first virtual channel address with a slot other than the first slot in the scheduling ring.

A method of scheduling transmission of a plurality of cells associated with a first virtual channel address using a scheduling ring having a plurality of slots, the method comprising:

• advancing a pointer to a first slot associated with the first virtual channel address,
• initiating transmission of a previously scheduled first cell associated with the first virtual channel address;
• determining whether a previously unscheduled second cell associated with the first virtual channel address is ready to be transmitted;
• scheduling transmission of the second cell associated with the first virtual channel address only if the second cell is ready to be transmitted, wherein scheduling transmission of the second cell comprises identifying an ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring, a position of the ideal scheduling slot based at least in part on a desired value of an inter-cell gap and a transmission error associated with the first signal packet, the transmission error comprising a difference between a desired value of the inter-cell gap and a last value of the inter-cell gap, the last value of the inter-cell gap comprising a difference between the slot currently being serviced and the slot associated with a previously serviced cell of the first signal packet.

A system for traffic shaping the transmission of a plurality of signal packets, comprising:

• a scheduling ring comprising a plurality of slots and a pointer operable to indicate a current slot;
• and
• a scheduler operable to advance the pointer to a slot associated with a first virtual channel address, and to initiate transmission of a previously scheduled first cell associated with the first virtual channel address, wherein the scheduler is further operable to determine whether a second cell associated with the first virtual channel address is ready for transmission, and to schedule transmission of the second cell only if the second cell is ready for transmission,
• wherein the scheduler comprises a scheduling module operable to identify an ideal scheduling slot in the scheduling ring based at least in part on the desired inter-cell gap and a transmission error associated with the second cell, the transmission error comprising a difference between a desired value of the inter-cell gap and a last value of the inter-cell gap, the last value of the inter-cell gap comprising a difference between the slot currently being serviced and the slot associated with a previously serviced cell of the first signal packet.