摘要 |
A system and method for communicating multiple priority level data packets between input ports and output ports of a switch is disclosed where the data packet has a header portion identifying at least one output port destination and a level of priority, selected from a predetermined set of priority levels, of the data within the data packet. A buffer, shared by the output ports, stores the data packet in a selected buffer location based on the output port destination and priority level of the data packet. Pointers to buffer locations containing data packets having a particular priority level are stored in one or more priority sub-queues for one or more of the plurality of output ports based on the output port destinations and the priority level of the data packet. The data packets are output to the output ports in priority order. |