SELECTIVE DATA FRAME DROPPING IN A NETWORK DEVICE

摘要

A network device (180) that controls the communication of data frames between stations (110) performs an admission control procedure to reduce congestion on the network device (180). The network device (180) receives data frames on its receive ports (205). When the network device (180) detects congestion, the network device (180) enables admission control and reads a portion of a data frame to determine the nature of the data included in the data frame. The network device (180) then determines whether to drop the received data frame based on the nature of the data included in the data frame. The network device (180) may also determine a priority associated with the data frame and selectively drop data frames based on the nature of the data included in the data frame and the priority.