A flexible ATM switching system (MHN-A/spl pi/) supporting quality-of-service

A new technique (called inter-network ABR) that can handle different types of ATM bearer services, such as ABR (available bit rate) and GFR (guaranteed frame rate) services, with the same ATM switching system hardware is proposed. It makes node hardware simpler and more flexible. The MHN-A/spl pi/ system was implemented using this technique. The inter-network ABR technique and the MHN-A/spl pi/ system can be applied to new ATM services.