Patent ID: 7952998

Claim:
In a communication link that couples a first node and a second node, wherein each of the nodes comprises a transmitting device and a receiving device, the nodes exchange credit information over the link to control the other node's rate of data transmission over the link, wherein the transmitting devices are configured to receive credit information, and wherein the receiving devices each comprise a data buffer for storing transmitted data from the other node, a method of managing the communication link comprising the steps of: disabling a transmitting device from honoring the credit information sent by the other node over the link, wherein the credit information indicates an amount of buffer space available in the receiving devices; in response to disabling a transmitting device from honoring the credit information, the transmitting device transmitting packets to the receiving devices at an unrestricted rate; the receiving devices monitoring for dropped packets that were sent by the other node due to lack of buffer space; and in response to detecting a dropped packet due to the lack of buffer space, the receiving device sending a request to the other node for decreasing the rate of transmission.