Method and system for sharing reserved bandwidth between several dependent connections in high speed packet switching networks

A method is given for sharing reserved bandwidth between a plurality of connections issuing from a port of a node. A connection bandwidth is determined for each connection of the plurality of connections. An aggregate bandwidth is determined for all connections of the plurality of connections issuing from the port, the aggregate bandwidth being less than a sum of the connection bandwidth for all connections. The aggregate bandwidth is compared with a maximum access rate for the port, and in the event that the aggregate bandwidth does not exceed the maximum access rate, reserving the aggregate bandwidth for the port.