Data flow control

1. A method of controlling a plurality of parallel information flows in a data transmission system, comprising:

receiving a plurality of data packets for each information flow, the received information flows having temporal coherence;

allocating a priority level to each data packet, the priority level being a function of a class of loss for the data packet and a class of urgency of service for the data packet; and

variably spacing the data packets in each information flow independently to thereby generate a modified information flow for each information flow wherein the data packets in each modified information flow are variably spaced independently whilst maintaining the order of the data packets, and the variable spacing between the data packets in each modified information flow is exponentially distributed;

and wherein the variable spacing for each modified information flow creates independent temporal patterns between the modified information flows such that the temporal coherence between the modified information flows is reduced.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the modified information flow for at least one information flow; and

generating a further modified information flow by providing a further variable spacing between the data packets thereof.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising multiplexing the modified information flows.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising determining a configured packet length for the data packets based on a configured service rate thereof.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the data packets are selectively admitted to a queue based on a length of the queue.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein a level of service is associated with each data packet in the queue.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the data packets are serviced based upon the priority level.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the priority level is allocated to a data packet based on a function of a state of a queue.

9. A plurality of parallel controllers for controlling a plurality of parallel information flows in a data transmission system, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of data packets for each information flow, the received information flows having temporal coherence;

means for allocating a priority level to each data packet, the priority level being a function of a class of loss for the data packet and a class of urgency of service for the data packet; and

means for variably spacing the data packets in each information flow independently to thereby generate a modified information flow for each information flow wherein the data packets in each modified information flow are variably spaced independently whilst maintaining the order of the data packets, and the variable spacing between the data packets in each modified information flow is exponentially distributed;

and wherein the variable spacing for each modified information flow creates independent temporal patterns between the modified information flows such that the temporal coherence between the modified information flows is reduced.

10. The controller as recited in claim 9 wherein the means for generating a modified information flow is embodied at least in part in a policer/shaper and a rate limiter.

11. The controller as recited in claim 9 wherein the means for generating a modified information flow employs one of a random pattern and a pseudo-random pattern.

12. The controller as recited in claim 9 further comprising a means for providing a data packet identifier to each data packet and means for storing each data packet in a sequence.

13. A plurality of parallel controllers for controlling a plurality of parallel information flows in a data transmission system, comprising:

a plurality of policer/shapers configured to:

receive a plurality of data packets for each information flow, the received information flows having temporal coherence;

allocate a priority level to each data packet, the priority level being a function of a class of loss for the data packet and a class of urgency of service for the data packet; and

variably space the data packets in each information flow independently to thereby generate a modified information flow for each information flow wherein the data packets in each modified information flow are variably spaced independently whilst maintaining the order of the data packets, and the variable spacing between the data packets in each modified information flow is exponentially distributed; and

wherein the variable spacing for each modified information flow creates independent temporal patterns between the modified information flows such that the temporal coherence between the modified information flows is reduced.

14. The controller as recited in claim 13 further comprising a rate limiter configured to service the data packets in accordance with the plurality of policer/shapers.

15. The controller as recited in claim 13 wherein the plurality of policer/shapers employ one of a random pattern and a pseudo-random pattern.

16. The controller as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:

a queue memory manager configured to provide a data packet identifier to each data packet in accordance with the plurality of policer/shapers; and

a queue memory configured to store each data packet in a sequence.