Patent ID: 7180859

Claim:
A method for removal of ATM cells from an ATM communications device, comprising: providing a plurality of ATM cells, a plurality of which are in each case assigned to a common frame and which are stored in connection-specific queues; providing a first algorithm by means of which, with the exception of a first and a last ATM cell in a frame, all newly arriving cells in the frame are removed; providing a second algorithm by means of which all from a first cell to a last cell, are removed upon arrival in a queue from the ATM communications device; at a start of a transmission process, indicating by a user a maximum number of ATM cells per frame, and transmitting the ATM cells using said maximum number; and when said maximum number is exceeded, discarding the associated frame or using the first algorithm, wherein no low-priority cells are stored for a connection if the length of the queue for said connection is of at least one size S_PPD — 1=S_EPD — 1+MFS, where S_EPD — 1 is independent of said connection and a maximum number of cells per MFS depends on the connection, where PPD represents partial packet discard, EPD represents early packet discard, and MFS represents maximum frame size.