Method and apparatus for interconnecting token ring lans operating in ATM

Abstract

The invention relates to a local area network operating according to the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) for transmitting cells, comprising a plurality of network interfaces. At least two ring systems are provided which comprise each two network interfaces (85, 89; 86, 90) and respective bridge connections (83, 84; 87, 88). A first network interface (85) of a first ring system and a first network interface (86) of a second ring system are coupled via first bridge connections (83, 84) to the two ring systems for transporting the cell stream to the two ring systems, and a second network interface (89) of the first ring system and a second network interface (90) of the second ring system are coupled via second bridge connections (87, 88) for transporting the cell stream to the two ring systems.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.