Patent ID: 6345037
Filing Date: 2002-02-05
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A method for controlling congestion of ATM cells in an ATM switch using a packet discard feature, each cell containing a bit having at least two states indicating cell type when AAL5 is being used, the method comprising the steps of:monitoring the state of the bit in each cell when passing through said ATM switch; determining that the cells carry data that has been segmented using AAL5 when the state of the bit transitions from a first value to a second value, wherein the step of determining further comprises evaluating a last bit of the Payload Type Identifier (PTI) field to determine whether the last bit of the Payload Type Identifier field changes value; and enabling the packet discard feature if the user data cells carry data that has been segmented using AAL5, wherein the packet discard feature includes partial packet discard (PPD) and early packet discard (EPD).