A virtual path feature in which several virtual channels share an assigned amount of bandwidth is implemented in a network processor. The network processor maintains a schedule indicative of respective times at which a plurality of virtual channels are to be serviced. An entry is read from the schedule. The entry corresponds to a current transmit cycle and includes a pointer to a channel descriptor for a virtual channel to be serviced in the current transmit cycle. A data cell for the virtual channel to be serviced in the current cycle is transmitted. An entry is added to the schedule to point to a channel descriptor that is pointed to by the channel descriptor for the virtual channel serviced in the current transmit cycle.