Packet Scheduler / Queueing Discipline

A queueing discipline / packet scheduler is a network function that distributes available bandwidth to different connections according to an algorithm.

The management is done by deciding how many packets each connection is handed, by handling the device traffic queue and making prioritizing incoming/ingress or outgoing/egress packets.

The scheduling can be done either by automatically, based on observed traffic, or following rules according to a Quality Of Service protocol such as Intserv or DiffServ.