Patent ID: 7573821

Claim:
A method comprising: determining at a first node a pending data packet count for one or more data packets to be forwarded from the first node to a second node on a communication link between the first node and the second node, where data packets forwarded to the second node on the communication link are stored in a receive buffer of the second node; receiving at the first node an indication from the second node of the second node's throughput capability, wherein determining the pending data packet count includes decrementing the pending data packet count at a given rate based on the received indication of the second node's throughput capability; receiving at the first node a threshold data packet count value from the second node indicating a capacity of the receive buffer of the second node; comparing at the first node the pending data packet count to the threshold data packet count value; based upon the comparison of the pending data packet count to the threshold data packet count value, generating at the first node a signal to indicate that a transmit delay is not required between transmitting data packets; and forwarding the one or more data packets from the first node to the second node at a rate based on the generated signal.