Abstract: In order to control message delay,high speed data bus (HSDB) provides four priority classes,which are implemented by four timers (one token holding timer (THT) and three token rotation timers (TRT)). If a station wants to control message delay for different priority,in fact,the objective is to allocate network bandwidth among different priority levels by the four timers. The principle of message delay control for a general HSDB network is analyzed,and according to the network throughput of each priority level the anatytical expressions for setting the four timers in the general HSDB network are derived. The results provide the basis of theoretical reference for setting THT and TRT in the HSDB network.