Interference cognizant network scheduling

A method of scheduling communications in a network, the method comprising:

• identifying a bin of a global timeline in which to schedule a two or more virtual links, wherein in a bin is a segment of the global timeline;
• determining if the two or more virtual links share a common port at one or more nodes in the network;
• if the two or more virtual links do not share a common port, scheduling transmission of the two or more virtual links in the bin to overlap with each other;
• and
• if the two or more virtual links share a common port:
• determining a respective start time delay for each of the two or more virtual links based on the common port;
• and
• scheduling a respective slot time for transmission of the two or more virtual links in the bin based on the respective start time delay for each of the two or more virtual links such that at least a portion of the respective slot times of the two or more virtual links overlap.

A program product comprising a non-transitory processor-readable medium on which program instructions are embodied, wherein the program instructions are configured, when executed by at least one programmable processor, to cause the at least one programmable processor to:

• identify a bin of a global timeline in which to schedule an unscheduled virtual link, wherein in a bin is a segment of the global timeline;
• identify a pre-scheduled virtual link in the bin;
• determine if the pre-scheduled virtual link and the unscheduled virtual link share one or more common dispatch ports at one or more nodes in the network;
• if the unscheduled virtual link and the pre-scheduled virtual link do not share the one or more common dispatch ports, schedule transmission of the unscheduled virtual link in the bin to overlap with the scheduled transmission of the pre-scheduled virtual link;
• and
• if the unscheduled virtual link and the pre-scheduled virtual link share the one or more common dispatch ports:
• determine a start time delay for the unscheduled virtual link based on an earliest common dispatch port among the one or more common dispatch ports;
• and
• schedule transmission of the unscheduled virtual link in the bin based on the start time delay to overlap at least a portion of the scheduled transmission of the pre-scheduled virtual link.