Dynamic head of line allocation

Abstract

A dynamic HOL allocation module that supports, dynamically configurable classes of service, virtual output queues that support dynamically configurable HOL blocking factors, and dynamically configurable queue assignment schemes, is described. A user may define classes of service assigned to a source port within a network switch and may configure each class of service with a set of virtual output queues, or queue set. Each queue set may be configured to include a user configured number of virtual output queues based on an HOL blocking factor, e.g., 1:1, 1:24, etc., selected by the user for the class of service. Further, the assignment scheme used to assign packets received on a source port to a class of service and the assignment scheme used to assign packets assigned to a class of service to a virtual output queue may be dynamically configurable based on day, day/time, traffic load, alarm events and/or other factors.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.