Importance

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for buffering information in a digital network are provided. Each data element arrives on a particular logical connection. The apparatus stores the data element in the tail of a queue that corresponds to the connection on which the data element arrived. The apparatus maintains one queue for each connection. The apparatus tracks the state of the queues using linked lists. Each entry in the linked list corresponds to a block in the memory used to store the data. The entries that correspond to blocks that contain data for a particular connection are linked together to reflect the order of arrival of the data stored in the corresponding blocks. Information that is generated about a particular data element after the data element has been stored is placed in the linked list entry that corresponds to the block in which the data was stored, rather than in the block with the data. A connection indicator is stored with each data element to indicate the connection on which the data element is to be sent. Prior to sending a data element over a specified connection, the apparatus compares the stored connection indicator with the specified connection. If it is different from the connection indicated by the connection indicator, then an error signal is generated.

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First Claim