ABR server

Claim 1

A data cell transmission server for processing resource management cells associated with a stream of user cells routing from a source to a destination through a switch core via user stream virtual channels, said resource management cells carrying explicit cell rate information and current cell rate information and being characterized by either forward identifiers indicating their origin from the source or by reverse identifiers indicating their origin from the destination, the server comprising: a switch port coupled to the switch core and adapted to communicate all resource management cells to and from the switch core and the server; and an explicit rate code adjuster disassociated with the stream of user cells and adapted to receive the resource management cells from the switch core via a special virtual channel different from the user stream virtual channels, the adjuster adapted to read a header of all said resource management cells to determine whether they have forward identifiers or reverse identifiers, and if a resource management cell has a forward identifier, said adjuster reading said current cell rate information and routing said resource management cell with said forward identifier via the port to the destination, and if a resource management cell has a reverse identifier, said adjuster reading the explicit cell rate information from said resource management cell with said reverse identifier, processing said explicit cell rate into a modified explicit cell rate using a flow control algorithm executed independent of said switch core, substituting the modified explicit cell rate into the resource management cell having the reverse identifier, and routing said resource management cell with said reverse identifier and said modified explicit cell rate to the switch core for delivery to the source.

Claim 7

A method of processing resource management cells associated with a stream of user cells routing from a source to a destination through a switch core, said resource management cells carrying explicit cell rate information and current cell rate information and being characterized by either forward identifiers indicating their origin from the source or by reverse identifiers indicating their origin from the destination, comprising the steps of: 1) receiving the stream of user cells on a first set of virtual channels; 2) receiving at a separate server resource management cells from the switch core via a second virtual channel different from the first set of virtual channels; 3) reading a header of said received resource management cells to determine whether they have forward identifiers or reverse identifiers; 4) if a resource management cell has a forward identifier, reading said current cell rate information and routing said resource management cell with said forward identifier to the destination; 5) if a resource management cell has a reverse identifier: a) reading the explicit cell rate information from said resource management cell with said reverse identifier, b) processing said explicit cell rate information into a modified explicit cell rate, c) substituting the modified explicit cell rate into said resource management cell rate, d) routing said resource management cell with said reverse identifier to the switch core via the second virtual channel; and e) routing said resource management cell with said reverse identifier and said modified explicit cell rate through the first set of virtual channels toward the source.

Claim 8

A method of processing resource management cells associated with a stream of user cells routing from a source to a destination through a switch core, said resource management cells carrying explicit cell rate information and current cell rate information and being characterized by either forward identifiers indicating their origin from the source or by reverse identifiers indicating their origin from the destination, comprising the steps of: 1) receiving the stream of user cells on a first set of virtual channels; 2) receiving at a separate server resource management cells from the switch core via a second virtual channel different from the first set of virtual channels; 3) reading a header of said received resource management cells to determine whether they have forward identifiers or reverse identifiers; 4) if a resource management cell has a forward identifier, reading said current cell rate information and routing said resource management cell with said forward identifier to the destination; 5) if a resource management cell has a reverse identifier: a) reading the explicit cell rate information from said resource management cell with said reverse identifier, b) processing said explicit cell rate information into a modified explicit cell rate, c) substituting the modified explicit cell rate into said resource management cell rate, d) routing said resource management cell with said reverse identifier to the switch core via the second virtual channel; and e) routing said resource management cell with said reverse identifier and said modified explicit cell rate through the first set of virtual channels toward the source.