Automotive switch fabric with improved resource reservation

A vehicle comprising:

• a plurality of network nodes;
• the network nodes being interconnected by connection media for point-to-point communication, the connection media being operable in accordance with one or more communication protocols;
• and
• the connection media having a reserved communication capability, the reserved communication capability being associated with a class of message traffic and an associated buffer for queuing messages disassociated with the class of message traffic, the reserved communication capability being a fraction F of the available time averaged over a time period W, wherein F and W vary by message traffic class and an associated network node, the class of message traffic including at least a message class defined for mission critical traffic comprising at least one of vehicle safety related data, powertrain data, steering data, and braking data.