A method for managing of the quality of service in an atm - network

摘要

A switching node (15, 16, 17 or 20) for an ATM network (10) can selectively implement one of a plurality of call transforming procedures. The switching node (15, 16, 17, or 20) stores characteristics of each connected communications link (22 or 24) in a virtual connection and determines, for any ATM message the quality of service requirements for a particular transfer over a virtual connection. The selection of a call transferring process is based upon minimizing a particular potential error. Decisions concerning the implementation of correction procedures and the capability of the virtual connection to accommodate these requirements are made on a link-by-link basis.