1. A network element having a switching apparatus for switching information between a plurality of ingress ports and a plurality of egress ports via a cross-connect matrix disposed therebetween, comprising: a plurality of ingress servers associated with each of said ingress ports, said ingress servers operating to serve a plurality of virtual output queues (VOQs) supported by a corresponding ingress port; a plurality of egress servers associated with each of said egress ports, each of said egress servers operating to serve outgoing traffic supported by a corresponding egress port; at least one ingress arbiter associated with each of said ingress ports and at least one egress arbiter associated with each of said egress ports, said at least one ingress arbiter and egress arbiter for effectuating a particular type of arbitration; and a scheduler operating to configure said cross-connect matrix for transporting a plurality of transmission units from at least one of said ingress ports to at least one of said egress ports during each time slot associated with said cross-connect matrix, wherein said scheduler effectuates a particular scheduling mechanism based at least in part upon an ingress arbiter architecture, an egress arbiter architecture and a predetermined arbitration iteration strategy.