Min Zhu

US Patent:

6473815, Oct 29, 2002

Filed:

Oct 12, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/416418

Inventors:

Xiaolin Lu - Middletown NJ
Min Zhu - Santa Cruz CA

Assignee:

ATT Corporation - New York NY

International Classification:

G06F 1314

US Classification:

710 52, 710126, 710 56, 370402

Abstract:

This invention provides queue sharing methods and apparatus of a queuing system which includes queues of multiple priorities or classes. When data is received in a class queue, for example, and the class queue is full, the queue is in an overflow condition and the data is overflow data. The queue sharing apparatus processes the overflow data by determining whether the overflow data may be placed in one of the other class queues which are not full. If higher class queues have higher performances than lower class queues, then when lower class queues are full, overflow data of the lower class queues may be placed in higher class queues without performance penalties. When higher class queues are full, the overflow data from the higher class queues may be placed in lower class queues. However, in this situation, a higher class buffer threshold is generated for the lower class queue to indicate when the higher class performance may be compromised.