| abstract |
A SIMA Traffic Shaper (STS) and method is disclosed for use between the customer equipment and the SIMA access node to shape the transmitted traffic so that the cells will receive as good priority as possible in the access node. The STS includes an input device for receiving cells from a traffic source, a buffering device, coupled to the input, for holding the cells until instructed to send the cells; and a calculation unit, operatively coupled to the buffer processor, for calculating a send time for sending cells held by the buffering device. The buffering device further includes a buffer and a transmission unit, wherein the buffer holds the cells and the transmission unit sends the cell forward according to the send time received from the calculation unit. A monitoring unit is included for monitoring the input device and the buffering device to obtain loading information regarding the network. The calculation unit calculates the send time based upon a nominal bit rate, a maximum delay, the loading information provided by the monitoring unit and a monitoring principle. The monitoring principle may be based solely upon a number of segments containing cells in the buffer or on the loading information. |