Patent ID: 7792118

Claim:
A method for controlling sending cells from a first device having at least one communications link with a second device, the second device being capable of maintaining, for each of the at least one communications links, a queue for each of a plurality of X destinations, the method comprising: maintaining a cell count associated with each of the X destination queues of the second device; wherein the act of maintaining a cell count associated with each of the X destination queues of the second device comprises, for each of the at least one communications links, accepting credit update information originating from the second device; accepting cell-in-transit information concerning a number of cells in transit from the first device to the second device; and updating the cell count using the accepted credit update information and the accepted cell-in-transit information; accepting a cell at the first device; determining a destination of the cell; and determining whether or not to forward the cell from the first device to the second device using the cell count associated with the one of the X destination queues of the second device corresponding to the determined destination of the cell.