VORRICHTUNG UND VERFAHREN FÜR EIN ASYNCHRONES ÜBERTRAGUNGSNETZ (ATM)

摘要

Reactive congestion control in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network where the network is formed by the interconnection of nodes each including a forward path (8-OF, 8-2F, 8-(C)F) for transfer of information from source (4-(S)) to destination (4-(D)) through the network and a return path (8-(C)R, 8-(C-1)R, 8-1R, 8-OR) for returning congestion control signals. Each source includes a modifiable issue rate unit which issues forward information signals at different rates for virtual channels in response to the presence and absence of congestion signals received on the return path. A segmentation communication unit segments packets into a plurality of cells concurrently for a plurality of channels for transmission over the ATM network. A reassembly communication unit reassembles cells received from the ATM network concurrently for the plurality of channels. Pipelined processing units are employed for segmentation and for reassembly.