Patent ID: 7907620

Claim:
A method of handling ATM traffic comprising one or more Virtual Path Connections (VPCs) being streams of packets of AAL5 type composed of ATM cells, the method comprising handling said traffic at a network node at VP-layer being the layer of VPCs, wherein said node is initially unaware about type of VC services inside a Virtual Path Connection VPC, the method including: providing a database, monitoring each of said cells incoming the node and determining at least VC-layer and VP-layer parameters of a cell being monitored, processing information on said determined parameters, registering the processed information concerning each of said cells in the database, by using the registered information, forming statistical data with respect to at least combinations of the VC-layer and VP-layer parameters of the packets being handled at the node, so that most frequent of said combinations are registered in the data base, thereby making the network node, handling the ATM traffic at VP-layer, aware about nature and behavior of various AAL5 streams in a particular VP connection, and analyzing the statistical data, performing an AAL5 packet discard policy at the VP layer by making decisions on discard of the cells being monitored, said decisions depending on results of analysis of the statistical data, taking into account frequency of appearance, in the database, of a combination of VC-layer and VP-layer parameters of a particular cell being monitored, wherein each of said packets belongs to a particular VCC (Virtual Channel Connection) and a particular VPC (Virtual Path Connection), and wherein each said packet comprises a number of ATM cells, and for each said packet, each of the cells have a same value of VC-index (VCI) and a same value of VP-index (VPI), the method further comprising: determining said VC-layer and VP-layer parameters by determining VPI and VCI values of the cell; and registering the processed information per each of the monitored cells in the database, to allow judging about VCCs in a particular VP connection and thereby enabling awareness of the network node about VCCs at the VP layer and frequency of their appearance in the ATM traffic being handled, wherein the step of forming the statistical data is performed by building a table arranged for N entries assigned to N different VCCs, wherein each entry registers a number of fields assigned for at least the following purposes: indicating a VPI value, indicating a VCI value, a counter of “own cells”, a counter of “other cells”, AAL5 packet status, wherein the fields “own cells” and “different cells” serve for distinguishing different VCCs which can be mapped to the same entry, said method further comprising replacing a particular entry by reassigning it to another VCC if in said entry a reading of the “own cells” counter is significantly smaller than a reading of the “other cells” counter.