| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for the efficient management of electronic communications in a ring topology network. Each Send packet and Echo packet includes a mechanism used to request to share bandwidth. In one implementation a single bit is used, while in another the mechanism includes a traffic control field providing a hierarchy of request to share bits accompanied by priority information, thereby enabling a multi-level system. When a Send packet reaches the target node the information is returned to the source node via the echo packet's request to share bit or the traffic control field, depending upon the implementation. The source node then alters its rate of packet transmission as a function of the number of requests to share it receives and, in the second implementation, as a function of the priority of the requesting nodes in relation to the priority of the source node. In one embodiment, each node conditionally gives output packets preference over passing through packets.
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