Michael David Todd

US Patent:

6714516, Mar 30, 2004

Filed:

Feb 11, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/502533

Inventors:

Michael D. Todd - Raleigh NC

Assignee:

Alcatel - Paris

International Classification:

G01R 3108

US Classification:

370235, 370230

Abstract:

A congestion control mechanism for use with a receiver in a telecommunications network using the Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP). The receiver is disposed in an access network portion of the telecommunications network such that it receives messages from an aggregate portion of the network over an Access Network Interface (ANI) and from a plurality of users over User-Network Interfaces (UNIs) in a distribution network portion. Credit windows granted by the receiver to the transmitters for transmission of message frames are managed by the receiver when it experiences congestion. The congestion control method monitors buffer usage for ANI-based traffic and UNI-based traffic in the receiver by setting appropriate buffer use counters and timers. When the number of available buffers reaches certain predetermined threshold values, the receiver sends an indication to the transmitter to restrict its message transmit window, thereby throttling the message flow therefrom.