1. A method of determining how to forward cells from ingress queues to a switch fabric, comprising: determining which cells are to be forwarded from ingress queues to exit first-in-first-out queues (FIFOs) in accordance with a priority-biased arbitration stage; determining which cells are to be forwarded from said exit FIFOs to a switch fabric in accordance with a throughput-biased arbitration stage; forwarding first cells from an ingress queue of said ingress queues to a first exit FIFO of said exit FIFOs; forwarding second cells from said ingress queue to a second exit FIFO of said exit FIFOs; and excluding said second exit FIFO from said throughput-biased arbitration until said first cells are sent from said first exit FIFO.