APPROXIMATE STATE CONTROL MECHANISM

摘要

A data packet switching system having a central controller and a number of peripheral controllers each incorporating at least one queue for storing packets of information received from a peripheral data packet source. Each queue in each peripheral controller includes a queue size detection logic adapted to communicate to the central controller the approximate state of the size of the corresponding queue. The scale for the approximate state being arranged to be empty, nearly empty, active, busy, very busy, nearly full and full.