This paper considers networks where user traffic is regulated through deterministic traffic profiles, e.g., token buckets, and requires cleanrequires guaranteed clean hard delay bounds. The network’s goal is to minimize the resources it needs to meet those requirements clean bounds cleanbounds. The paper explores how reprofiling, i.e., proactively modifying how user traffic enters the network, can be of benefit. Reprofiling produces “smoother” flows but introduces an up-front access delay that forces tighter network delays. The paper explores this trade-off and demonstrates that, unlike what holds in the single-hop case, reprofiling can be of benefit cleanthat, unlike what holds in the single-hop case, reprofiling can be of benefit even when “optimal” clean“optimal” sophisticated clean schedulers are available at each hop cleanat each hop.

The need to guarantee hard delay bounds to traffic flows with deterministic traffic profiles, e.g., token buckets, arises in several network settings. It is of interest to offer such guarantees while minimizing network bandwidth. The paper explores a basic building block, namely, a single hop configuration, towards realizing such a goal. The main results are in the form of optimal solutions for meeting local deadlines under schedulers of varying complexity and therefore cost. The results demonstrate how judiciously modifying flows’ traffic profiles, i.e., reprofiling them, can help simple schedulers reduce the bandwidth they require, often performing nearly as well as more complex ones.