US Patent 7697517 Packet forwarding apparatus with transmission control function

A packet forwarding apparatus 200 transmits an inputted packet A to a first output port that is one of a plurality of output ports and transmits a dummy packet A storing the packet length of packet A to the other output port. A shaping unit 100-1 corresponding to the first output port uses the packet length of the packet A and a shaping unit 100-2 corresponding to the port other than the first output port uses a packet length in the dummy packet A so as to control the bandwidth of the packet A to be transmitted, thus controlling the total bandwidth of the packet A.