Patent · US Expired

Minimum guaranteed cell rate method and apparatus

US6002667A · kind A · utility

27Cited by
244References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignees

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 18, 1996
Grant dateDec 14, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 18, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S370/905
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing a minimum per-connection bandwidth guarantee and the ability to employ shared bandwidth thereabove in an environment having both virtual-connection and link-level flow control. A buffer pool downstream of a transmitter and disposed in a receiver is divided among a first portion dedicated for allocated bandwidth cell traffic and a second portion for dynamic bandwidth cell traffic. Link flow control enables receiver cell buffer sharing while maintaining the per-connection bandwidth guarantee. No cell-loss due to buffer overflows at the receiver is also guaranteed, resulting in high link-utilization in a frame traffic environment, as well as low delay in the absence of cell retransmission. A higher and thus more efficient utilization of receiver cell buffers is achieved.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.