System and method for simultaneous deficit round robin prioritization

A system and method have been provided for prioritizing queued information packets having a variable number of cells. A simultaneous deficit round robin (DRR) analysis occurs in the course of several selection cycles. Each queue has an associated increment value. The packet lengths in each queue are simultaneously compared to an accumulation total in every selection cycle. If all the packets have lengths greater than their corresponding accumulation totals, each accumulation total is incremented and the selection process is repeated. If one of the information packets has a number of cells less than, or equal to its corresponding accumulation total, it is selected. In case multiple information packets are eligible, a variety of selection criteria can be used to break a tie. For example, the eligible information packet with the highest class of service (COS) can be selected. The information packet is completed transferred before another selection process is begun.