Patent ID: 8520517

Claim:
A method for controlling data transmission in a communications system, the method comprising: receiving, by a network device, a congestion notification message that specifies a traffic flow identifier, wherein: said congestion notification message is generated by a peer network device based on one or more congestion indications that are triggered by one or more switching devices external to both said network device and said peer network device, and said one or more switching devices are traversed during transport of traffic between an egress port of said network device and an ingress port of said peer network device or between an egress port of said peer network device and an ingress port of said network device; and selecting between increasing or decreasing a current rate for transmitting data link layer (DLL) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with said specified traffic flow identifier in response to: receiving said congestion notification message, and determining that a wait timer value associated with modifying said current rate for transmitting DLL PDUs is greater than or equal to a minimum wait timer value.