A PACKET-SWITCHED MULTIPLE-ACCESS NETWORK SYSTEM WITH DISTRIBUTED FAIR PRIORITY QUEUING

摘要

A packet-switched multiple-access network system with a distributed fair priority queuing media access control protocol that provides multiple levels of priority of access and fair collision resolution with improved performance is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system provides high-speed transport of multimedia information on a shared channel. Further, in one embodiment, MAC level side-band signaling that is useful to other levels of the network protocol (e.g., the physical layer) is also provided.