Patent ID: 7532574

Claim:
A method for reporting links that are in a logical channel (LCN) exhaustion state where a maximum permissible number of connections has been reached, the method comprising: observing by a node in a Private Network Node Interface (PNNI) Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network that a link is in the LCN exhaustion state; issuing a PNNI Topology State Packet (PTSP) from the node for the link that is in the LCN exhaustion state, the PTSP including a PNNI Topology State Element (PTSE) having information about the link, said PTSE information further comprising: a) a per priority level breakdown of bandwidth reserved on said link and whether or not a connection exists on said link for each priority level; b) a per service category breakdown of over-subscription factors, or, information from which a per service category breakdown of over-subscription factors can be determined, actual available capacity on said link for each of said service categories, and an advertised available capacity value set equal to zero for each of said service categories; and c) an indication of the actual maximum capacity of said link and an advertised maximum capacity value set equal to zero.