ZyXEL Communications VSG1432-B101 Series User Manual

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 Chapter 10 Quality of Service (QoS)
VSG1432-B101 Series User’s Guide
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Token Bucket
The token bucket algorithm uses tokens in a bucket to control when traffic can be 
transmitted. The bucket stores tokens, each of which represents one byte. The 
algorithm allows bursts of up to b bytes which is also the bucket size, so the 
bucket can hold up to b tokens. Tokens are generated and added into the bucket 
at a constant rate. The following shows how tokens work with packets:
• A packet can be transmitted if the number of tokens in the bucket is equal to or 
greater than the size of the packet (in bytes). 
• After a packet is transmitted, a number of tokens corresponding to the packet 
size is removed from the bucket. 
• If there are no tokens in the bucket, the ZyXEL Device stops transmitting until 
enough tokens are generated. 
• If not enough tokens are available, the ZyXEL Device treats the packet in either 
one of the following ways:
In traffic shaping:
• Holds it in the queue until enough tokens are available in the bucket.
In traffic policing:
• Drops  it.
• Transmits it but adds a DSCP mark. The ZyXEL Device may drop these marked 
packets if the network is overloaded.
Configure the bucket size to be equal to or less than the amount of the bandwidth 
that the interface can support. It does not help if you set it to a bucket size over 
the interface’s capability. The smaller the bucket size, the lower the data 
transmission rate and that may cause outgoing packets to be dropped. A larger 
transmission rate requires a big bucket size. For example, use a bucket size of 10 
kbytes to get the transmission rate up to 10 Mbps.
Single Rate Three Color Marker 
The Single Rate Three Color Marker (srTCM, defined in RFC 2697) is a type of 
traffic policing that identifies packets by comparing them to one user-defined rate, 
the Committed Information Rate (CIR), and two burst sizes: the Committed Burst 
Size (CBS) and Excess Burst Size (EBS).
The srTCM evaluates incoming packets and marks them with one of three colors 
which refer to packet loss priority levels. High packet loss priority level is referred 
to as red, medium is referred to as yellow and low is referred to as green. 
The srTCM is based on the token bucket filter and has two token buckets (CBS and 
EBS). Tokens are generated and added into the bucket at a constant rate, called 
Committed Information Rate (CIR). When the first bucket (CBS) is full, new 
tokens overflow into the second bucket (EBS).