Patent attributes
A multiplexing system having an input unit, a storage unit and control unit. The input unit receives data units corresponding to multiple source data streams and extracts packets from the data units. The control unit computes data rate estimates for the source data streams based on timestamps in the source data streams. The storage unit stores a packet count and previous timestamp value for each source data stream. The control unit computes a preliminary data rate estimate for a source data stream based on samples of a local clock if timestamps are not received promptly. The control unit also computes scheduling rates based on the data rate estimates. The scheduling rates are used to control the rates of allocation of data from the source data streams into a multiplexed output stream. The control unit computes scheduling rates in a way that avoids oversubscription of the output channel.