CIRCUITRY AND METHOD FOR FAIR QUEUING AND SERVICING CELL TRAFFIC USING HOPCOUNTS AND TRAFFIC CLASSES

A method of fair queuing and servicing cell traffic in a telecommunication node which interfaces with a telecommunication system including a multiplicity of nodes is described. The steps include placing cells of traffic are placed in a queue according to a hopcount associated with each cell of bursty traffic, the hopcount being representative of the number of nodes traversed by the associated cell. Cells of traffic within the queue are serviced according to their associated hopcount. The hopcount associated with each cell of traffic is incremented as each cell of traffic is serviced. Circuitry providing fair queuing and servicing of cell traffic in a telecommunication node which interfaces with a telecommunication system including a multiplicity of nodes is also described.