This paper discusses the use of link-sharing mechanisms in packet networks and presents algorithms for hierarchical link-sharing. Hierarchical link-sharing allows multiple agencies, protocol families, or traflic types to share the bandwidth on a tink in a controlled fashion. Link-sharing and real-time services both require resource management mechanisms at the gateway. Rather than requiring a gateway to implement separate mechanisms for link-sharing and real-time services, the approach in this paper is to view link-sharing and real-time service requirements as simultaneous, and in some respect complementary, constraints at a gateway that can be implemented with a unified set of mechanisms. White it is not possible to completely predict the requirements that might evolve in the Internet over the next decade, we argue that controlled link-sharing is an essential component that can provide gateways with the flexibility to