Abstract: An apparatus and a computer readable storage medium having computer readable instructions for directing a processor to execute a method executable by the apparatus for adjusting policing cell rates at a switch interface, for cells received from a source in an allowed cell rate system. The method includes the steps of storing a current policing rate (PACR) in a current policing rate buffer, storing a plurality of policing rates and policing rate application times in respective policing rate and policing rate application time buffers and in response to the departure of a backward resource management cell to the source at time tb(j), setting the contents of the policing rate buffers and the policing rate application time buffers according to the relative magnitudes of the current policing rate and the contents of the policing rate buffers.

Abstract: In an enhanced partial packet discard (PPD) methodology, if an end-of-packet cell is discarded for non-PPD reasons, all non-end-of-packet cells of the immediately following packet are discarded. When an end-of-packet cell may validly be discarded, a switch faced with an end-of-packet cell may discard that cell if the last cell admitted to the buffer was an end-of-packet cell. To reduce the likelihood of having to drop end-of-packet cells, a buffer is configured to include a partial packet discard threshold such that the buffer space between that threshold and the end of the buffer is reserved for use by end-of-packet cells.