Quality of service management in a packet data router having multiple virtual router instances

A method for controlling the processing of data in a router associated with a communication network wherein said router includes a plurality of communication interfaces, the method comprising:

• maintaining a plurality of virtual router instances within said router wherein each of said virtual router instance represents an independent logical router and is associated with its own subset of said communication interfaces within said router;
• maintaining a plurality of ingress data queues wherein one or more of said ingress data queues are assigned to a first virtual router instance within said plurality of virtual router instances;
• receiving data packets associated with said first virtual router instance;
• storing said received data packets within said assigned one or more of said ingress data queues;
• processing said stored data packets within said router in accordance with data process rates of said one or more of said ingress data queues;
• and
• periodically adjusting the packet flow rates of said one or more ingress data queues associated with said first virtual router instance in order to maintain processor utilization within a selected operating range.

A router for controlling the processing of data in a communication network wherein said router includes a plurality of communication interfaces, comprising:

• means for maintaining a plurality of virtual router instances wherein each virtual router instance represents a virtual router and is assigned with its own subset of said communication interfaces;
• means for associating one or more first queues to a first virtual router instance;
• means for associating one or more second queues to a second virtual router instance;
• means for receiving data packets associated with said first virtual router instance;
• means for storing each of said received data packets within one of said first queues;
• processor for processing said stored data packets in accordance with certain data processing rates associated with said first queues;
• and
• wherein said processor adjusts the data processing rates of one or more first queues associated with said first virtual router instance based on current operating conditions of the router wherein said data processing rates of said one or more first queues are adjusted independently of the data processing rates of said one or more second queues.