Cisco Technology, Inc.

Marek Tomaszewski

Ethan M Spiegel

Ashok N Chippa

Anthony L Alles

The invention provides a method and system for providing unique ATM End System Addresses, in which each new device is assigned a unique address in an ATM network while allowing all new devices performing the PNNI protocol in a selected set (such as all those from a single manufacturer) to be assigned by default to the same peer group. In the invention, a first portion of the ATM address (from which the default peer group ID is determined) is by default configured to equal a selected value unique to the manufacturer (or another selected class of devices), which assures that all devices from the same manufacturer (or in that selected class) are by default configured in the same peer group for PNNI protocol purposes, while a second portion of the ATM address (comprising a switch number ID) and a third portion of the ATM address (comprising a device number ID) are by default both configured to equal a unique value for the device (such as a MAC address), which assures that each device is configured with a unique ATM address. The third portion of the ATM address may alternatively be determined using a different method, so long as selection of the third portion causes each device to be assigned a unique ATM address by default.

Format for automatic generation of unique ATM addresses used for PNNI

The invention provides a method and system for selecting one particular interface between a pair of adjacent nodes in an ATM network for assignment to a call in that network. The cell rate available on each possible interface is examined and compared with the cell rate expected for the call, and one of the interfaces is selected and assigned responsive to those cell rates. (1) The interface can be chosen which preserves the maximum remaining cell rate for future calls. (2) The interface with the highest-speed available link can be chosen, so long as cell rate capacity is available on that interface for the call.

Next hop selection in ATM networks

The invention provides a method and system for selecting routes in a switching network with resource reservation, such as an ATM network. A set of routes are periodically precomputed, so that routes are known between any sending node and any receiving node, subject to resource reservation requirements. Each incoming call has its resource requirements, such as call size, compared with a selected threshold, and if the requirements exceed the threshold, a route is dynamically recomputed for the call. Other aspects of routing may be responsive to the calls' resource requirements. For example, a ratio of required resources with quality-of-service restrictions to required resources without such restrictions may be used to determine whether to reject the call, responsive to the call's resource requirements. The call size may be compared against another selected threshold, and the decision to determine whether to use that ratio to reject the call may be made responsive to comparisons against one or both thresholds.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Marek Tomaszewski