Supervision control system

Abstract

A supervision control system for an ATM cell switching system counts the number of cells transmitted from a subscriber in a predetermined duration unit, attaches a sign to the cells when the counted value exceeds a predetermined value, and discards the cells to which the sign is attached when a buffer does not have enough capacity during a cell multiplexation.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A supervision control method for an asynchronous transmission mode cell switching system comprising the steps of: 
       ( a )  storing a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to a plurality of sources of cells, and are stored in memory regions at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;   
       (a b) counting cells having one of the plurality of identified virtual connections formed by a particular virtual channel identifier and a particular virtual path identifier transmitted from a subscriber in a predetermined duration unit, by incrementing a count value stored in a  one of the memory region  regions having an address uniquely accessed with said particular virtual channel identifier and said particular virtual path identifier;  
       (b c) attaching a sign to the cells when the count value incremented in said step (a b) exceeds a predetermined value; and  
       (c d) discarding the cells to which said sign is attached when a buffer does not have enough capacity to multiplex the cells.  
     
     
       2. A supervision control method for an asynchronous transmission mode cell switching system comprising the steps of: 
       (a) counting cells having a particular virtual channel identifier and a particular virtual path identifier received from a subscriber in a predetermined unit by incrementing a count value stored in a memory region having an address uniquely accessed with said particular virtual channel identifier and said particular virtual path identifier;  
       (b) attaching a sign to the cells when the count value incremented in said step (a) exceeds a first predetermined value;  
       (c) discarding the excess cells over a second predetermined value when the count value incremented in said step (a) exceeds the second predetermined value; and  
       (d) discarding the excess cells over the first predetermined value, to which the sign is attached in said step (b), when a buffer does not have enough capacity to multiplex the cells.  
     
     
       3. The supervision control method according to claim  2 , wherein said step (b) attaches based on the first predetermined value as a number of peak cells in the predetermined duration unit; and 
       wherein said step (a) comprises the substep of designating the first and second predetermined values based on a designation received from the subscriber.  
     
     
       4. A supervision control apparatus for an asynchronous transmission mode cell switching system comprising: 
       a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre- assigned to sources of cells, the bandwidth data being stored at addresses thereof, each address being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;   
       a cell counter including a memory to store a count value at an address uniquely accessed with one of the plurality of identified virtual connections formed by a particular virtual channel identifier and a particular virtual path identifier, for counting cells having said particular virtual channel identifier and said particular virtual path identifier transmitted from a subscriber in a predetermined duration unit by incrementing the count value;  
       a judge circuit for attaching a sign to the cells when the count value incremented by said cell counter exceeds a predetermined value; and  
       a multiplexer for discarding the cells to which the sign is attached when a buffer does not have enough capacity to multiplex the cells.  
     
     
       5. The supervision control apparatus according to claim  4 , wherein said judge circuit comprises a selector to switch when said sign is attached to a cell. 
     
     
       6. A supervision control apparatus for a cell switching system comprising: 
       a cell counter including a memory to store a count value at an address uniquely accessed with a particular virtual channel identifier and a particular virtual path identifier, for counting cells having said particular virtual channel identifier and said particular virtual path identifier transmitted from a subscriber in a predetermined duration unit;  
       a judge circuit for attaching a sign to the cells when the count value incremented by said cell counter exceeds a first predetermined value;  
       a selector for discarding the excess cells over a second predetermined value when the count value incremented by said cell counter exceeds the second predetermined value; and  
       a multiplexer for discarding the excess cells over the first predetermined value, to which said sign is attached by said judge circuit, when a buffer does not have enough capacity to multiplex the cells.  
     
     
       7. The supervision control apparatus according to claim  6 , 
       wherein said first predetermined value is a number of average cells in said predetermined duration unit and said second predetermined value is a number of peak cells in said predetermined duration unit; and  
       wherein said system further comprises a receiver for receiving a designation from the subscriber to designate the first and second predetermined values.  
     
     
       8. The supervision control apparatus for an asynchronous transmission mode cell switching system according to claim  6 , wherein said selector outputs “0” upon discarding the cells. 
     
     
       9. A supervision control method in which cells, each including a header field with an identified virtual connection, are received from a plurality of sources, comprising: 
         storing a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to the sources of the cells and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         monitoring a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         comparing the transmission rate with the bandwidth data stored at a memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       10. A supervision control method according to claim  9 , wherein said monitoring comprises counting a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       11. A supervision control method, according to claim  9 , further comprising discarding the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity for buffering the received cell. 
     
     
       12. A supervision control apparatus in which cells, each including a header field with an identified virtual connection, are received from a plurality of sources, comprising: 
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to the sources of the cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at an address of said memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       13. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  12 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       14. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  12 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       15. A supervision control apparatus in which cells, each including a header field with an identified virtual connection, are received from a plurality of sources, comprising: 
         memory means for storing a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to the sources of the cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         monitor means for monitoring a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         comparing means for comparing the monitored transmission rate of said monitor means with the bandwidth data stored at an address of said memory means corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         mark means for marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       16. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  15 , wherein said monitor means counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       17. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  15 , further comprising discard means for discarding the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity for buffering the received cell. 
     
     
       18. A supervision control apparatus, comprising: 
       
         a buffer memory to receive and store a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection;  
       
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at an address of said memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       19. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  18 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       20. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  18 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when said buffer memory has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       21. A supervision control apparatus, comprising: 
       
         a receiver to receive a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection;  
       
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at an address of said memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       22. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  21 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       23. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  21 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       24. A supervision control apparatus, comprising: 
       
         a receiver to receive a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a cell loss priority bit indicating a cell loss priority;  
       
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at an address of said memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the cell loss priority bit to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       25. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  24 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       26. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  24 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       27. A supervision control apparatus in which a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a cell loss priority bit indicating a cell loss priority, is received from a source, comprising: 
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of the received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at an address of said memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the cell loss priority bit to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       28. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  27 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       29. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  27 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       30. A supervision control method, comprising: 
       
         receiving a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection;  
       
         storing a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to a plurality of sources of cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         monitoring a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         comparing the transmission rate with the bandwidth data stored at the memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       31. A supervision control method according to claim  30 , wherein said monitoring step comprises counting a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       32. A supervision control method according to claim  30 , further comprising discarding the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity for buffering the received cell. 
     
     
       33. A supervision control method, comprising: 
       
         receiving a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a bit indicating a cell loss priority;  
       
         storing a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to a plurality of sources of cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         monitoring a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         comparing the transmission rate with the bandwidth data stored at the memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         marking the bit to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       34. A supervision control method according to claim  33 , wherein said monitoring step comprises counting a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       35. A supervision control method according to claim  33 , further comprising discarding the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity for buffering the received cell. 
     
     
       36. A supervision control method in which cells, each including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a bit indicating a cell loss priority, are received, comprising: 
         storing a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of the cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         monitoring a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         comparing the transmission rate with the bandwidth data stored at the memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         marking the bit to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       37. A supervision control method according to claim  36 , wherein said monitoring comprises counting a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       38. A supervision control method according to claim  36 , further comprising discarding the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity for buffering the received cell. 
     
     
       39. A switching system which receives a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection, comprising: 
       
         a supervisor, including:  
       
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection specified by a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at a memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data; and  
       
       
         a switch to direct the cell from said supervisor to the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       40. A switching system according to claim  39 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       41. A switching system according to claim  39 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       42. A switching system which receives a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a bit indicating a cell loss priority, comprising: 
       
         a supervisor, including:  
       
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at a memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the bit to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data; and  
       
       
         a switch to direct the cell from said supervisor to the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       43. A switching system according to claim  42 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       44. A switching system according to claim  42 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       45. A switching system, comprising: 
       
         an interface to receive a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a bit indicating a cell loss priority;  
       
       
         a supervisor, including:  
       
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at a memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the bit to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data; and  
       
       
         a switch to direct the cell from said supervisor to an output of the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       46. A switching system according to claim  45 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       47. A switching system according to claim  45 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       48. A switching system, comprising: 
       
         an interface to receive a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection;  
       
       
         a supervisor, including:  
       
         a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections;    
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection of a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored at a memory address corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit to mark the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data; and  
       
       
         a switch to direct the cell from said supervisor to an output of the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       49. A switching system according to claim  48 , wherein said cell counter counts a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       50. A switching system according to claim  48 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       51. A supervision control method in which a cell having a header field with an identified virtual connection, is received from a source, comprising: 
         storing a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at memory addresses, each of the memory addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections; and    
       
         marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the stored bandwidth data for the received cell. 
       
     
     
       52. A supervision control method according to claim  51 , wherein said marking comprises counting the number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       53. A supervision control method according to claim  51 , further comprising discarding the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity for buffering the received cell. 
     
     
       54. A supervision control method according to claim  51 , wherein said marking comprises: 
       
         monitoring a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection specified by a received cell; and  
       
       
         comparing the transmission rate with the bandwidth data stored at the memory address corresponding to the specified identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       55. A supervision control apparatus in which a cell having a header field with an identified virtual connection, is received from a source, comprising a supervisor including a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre- assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections, said supervisor marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data stored at an address of the memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell.   
     
     
       56. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  55 , wherein said supervisor includes a cell counter to count a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       57. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  55 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       58. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  55 , wherein said supervisor further includes: 
       
         a cell counter to monitor a transmission rate on the identified virtual connection specified by a received cell;  
       
       
         a comparator, coupled to said memory and said cell counter, to compare the monitored transmission rate of said cell counter with the bandwidth data stored in said memory at the address corresponding to the identified virtual connection in the header field of the received cell; and  
       
       
         a judge circuit, coupled to said comparator, to mark the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data. 
       
     
     
       59. A switching system which receives a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection, comprising: 
         a supervisor including a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections, said supervisor marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data stored at the address of the memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and    
       
         a switch to direct the cell from said supervisor to the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       60. A switching system according to claim  59 , wherein said supervisor includes a cell counter to count a number of received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       61. A switching system according to claim  59 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       62. A switching system which receives a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a bit indicating a cell loss priority, comprising: 
         a supervisor including a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections, said supervisor marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data stored at the address of the memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and    
       
         a switch to direct the cell from said supervisor to the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       63. A switching system according to claim  62 , wherein said supervisor includes a cell counter to count a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       64. A switching system according to claim  62 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       65. A switching system located along an identified virtual connection, comprising: 
       
         an interface to receive a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection and a bit indicating a cell loss priority;  
       
         a supervisor including a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections, said supervisor marking the bit to indicate a higher cell loss priority when the monitored transmission rate corresponding to the bandwidth data stored at an address of the memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection in the header field of the received cell; and    
       
         a switch, to direct the cell from said supervisor to an output of the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       66. A switching system according to claim  65 , wherein said supervisor includes a cell counter to count a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       67. A switching system according to claim  65 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       68. A switching system, comprising: 
       
         an interface to receive a cell including a header field with an identified virtual connection;  
       
         a supervisor including a memory to store a plurality of bandwidth data which are pre - assigned to sources of cells, and are stored at addresses thereof, each of the addresses being operatively accessed based on one of a plurality of identified virtual connections, said supervisor marking the received cell to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a transmission rate of the received cell exceeds a rate corresponding to the bandwidth data stored at an address of the memory corresponding to the identified virtual connection of the received cell; and    
       
         a switch to direct the cell from said supervisor to an output of the identified virtual connection. 
       
     
     
       69. A switching system according to claim  68 , wherein said supervisor includes a cell counter to count a number of the received cells having the same identified virtual connection in a predetermined duration unit. 
     
     
       70. A switching system according to claim  68 , further comprising a discard circuit to discard the received cell which has been marked to indicate a higher cell loss priority when a buffer has less capacity than an operative capacity to store the received cell. 
     
     
       71. A supervision control method, according to claim  1 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       72. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  4 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       73. A supervision control method, according to claim  9 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       74. A supervision control apparatus, according to claim  12 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       75. A supervision control apparatus, according to claim  15 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       76. A supervision control apparatus, according to claim  18 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       77. A supervision control apparatus, according to claim  21 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       78. A supervision control apparatus, according to claim  24 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       79. A supervision control apparatus, according to claim  27 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       80. A supervision control method, according to claim  30 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       81. A supervision control method, according to claim  33 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       82. A supervision control method, according to claim  36 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       83. A switching system, according to claim  39 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       84. A switching system, according to claim  42 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       85. A switching system, according to claim  45 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       86. A switching system, according to claim  48 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       87. A supervision control method, according to claim  51 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       88. A supervision control apparatus, according to claim  55 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       89. A switching system, according to claim  59 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       90. A switching system, according to claim  62 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       91. A switching system, according to claim  65 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       92. A switching system, according to claim  68 , wherein each of the cells is of fixed length. 
     
     
       93. A supervision control method according to claim  9 , wherein said storing comprises storing bandwidth data which is declared from the source of the received cell prior to transmitting the received cell from the source. 
     
     
       94. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  12 , wherein said memory stores bandwidth data which is declared from the source of the received cell prior to transmitting the received cell from the source. 
     
     
       95. A supervision control apparatus according to claim  15 , wherein said memory means stores bandwidth data which is declared from the source of the received cell prior to transmitting the received cell from the source. 
     
     
       96. A supervision control method according to claim  51 , wherein said storing comprises storing bandwidth data which is declared from the source of the received cell prior to transmitting the received cell from the source. 
     
     
       97. A supervision control method, according to claim  55 , wherein said memory stores bandwidth data which is declared from the source of the received cell prior to transmitting the received cell from the source. 
     
     
       98. A switching system, according to claim  59 , wherein said memory stores bandwidth data which is declared from the source of the received cell prior to transmitting the received cell from the source.