ATM LINE CARD AND METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING DATA IN CONNECTION MEMORY

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To process an event instruction stored in a connection memory without interrupting or disturbing a cell stream by processing an arrived cell received by each line cart at a slightly higher rate than a transmission rate on a physical link and providing an FIFO so as to process a difference between a two rate. SOLUTION: A cell processor 102 allows an FIFO 110 to buffer a continuous flow of ATM cells from an input 108, and a transfer layer 112 processes the cells at a higher rate than a reception rate of the ATM cells. Thus, the FIFO 110 is regularly idle and a cell control section 122 stops the transfer of the transfer layer 112 till the FIFO 110 is again occupied. A bus control section 128 connects a microprocessor 130 and a memory bus 132 for a stop period to allow direct data transmission from a connection memory 106 to a DMA 134. Thus, an event instruction stored in the connection memory 106 is processed without interrupting or disturbing the flow of ATM cells.