Strict-Priority Packet Delay in Switches with Transmit-Ring Buffering

Abstract

Strict Priority (SP) scheduling is widely used at switch egress to provide low-latency service to high-priority (HP) traffic. Existing deterministic and stochastic latency models typically account for scheduler behavior and packet transmission, but omit a common switch implementation detail: the transmit ring (TXR) between the scheduler and the physical port. Because the switch must prepare the next packet before the current transmission completes, packets already placed in the TXR can further delay HP packets. This changes both the worst-case delay and the per-hop delay distribution of HP packets. This paper identifies this modeling gap, extends standard SP latency models to include the TXR, and validates the revised model through measurements on multiple switches. It also provides a measurement method for estimating the TXR size, a parameter that is often not reported in switch datasheets. The resulting model provides a closer representation of switch behavior for systems that use SP scheduling and require either delay bounds or delay distributions.