Multiplex communications – Pathfinding or routing – Switching a message which includes an address header
Patent
1997-12-09
2000-02-01
Ngo, Ricky
Multiplex communications
Pathfinding or routing
Switching a message which includes an address header
370418, H04L 1246
Patent
active
060211326
ABSTRACT:
A method and apparatus for shared memory management in a switched network element is provided. According to one aspect of the present invention, a shared memory manager for a packet forwarding device includes a pointer memory having stored therein information regarding buffer usage (e.g., usage counts) for each of a number of buffers in a shared memory. An encoder is coupled to the pointer memory for generating an output which indicates a set of buffers that contains a free buffer. The shared memory manager further includes a pointer generator that is coupled to the encoder for locating a free buffer in the set of buffers. The pointer generator is further configured to produce a pointer to the free buffer based upon the output of the encoder and the free buffer's location within the set of buffers. According to another aspect of the present invention, a packet forwarding device includes a number of output ports for transmitting packets onto a network and a number of input ports coupled to the output ports for receiving packets from the network, buffering the packets, and forwarding the packets to one or more of the output ports. The packet forwarding device also includes a shared memory that is segmented into buffers for temporarily buffering the packets. No more than one copy of a given packet is ever stored in the shared memory. The packet forwarding device further includes a shared memory manager which dynamically allocates buffers on behalf of the input ports and tracks ownership counts for each of the buffers.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4539637 (1985-09-01), DeBruler
patent: 4627052 (1986-12-01), Hoare et al.
patent: 4641302 (1987-02-01), Miller
patent: 4737953 (1988-04-01), Koch et al.
patent: 4935869 (1990-06-01), Yamamoto
patent: 5130977 (1992-07-01), May et al.
patent: 5159685 (1992-10-01), Kung
patent: 5163046 (1992-11-01), Hahne et al.
patent: 5309437 (1994-05-01), Perlman et al.
patent: 5313454 (1994-05-01), Bustini et al.
patent: 5353412 (1994-10-01), Douglas et al.
patent: 5365514 (1994-11-01), Hershey et al.
patent: 5396602 (1995-03-01), Amini et al.
patent: 5402415 (1995-03-01), Turner
patent: 5404538 (1995-04-01), Krappweis, Sr.
patent: 5420862 (1995-05-01), Perlman
patent: 5425026 (1995-06-01), Mori
patent: 5432907 (1995-07-01), Picazo, Jr. et al.
patent: 5490260 (1996-02-01), Miller et al.
patent: 5493564 (1996-02-01), Mullan
patent: 5500860 (1996-03-01), Perlman et al.
patent: 5509123 (1996-04-01), Dobbins et al.
patent: 5517488 (1996-05-01), Miyazaki et al.
patent: 5550816 (1996-08-01), Hardwick et al.
patent: 5553067 (1996-09-01), Walker et al.
patent: 5557610 (1996-09-01), Calamvokis et al.
patent: 5561791 (1996-10-01), Mendelson et al.
patent: 5563878 (1996-10-01), Blakeley et al.
patent: 5566170 (1996-10-01), Bakke et al.
patent: 5592476 (1997-01-01), Calamvokis et al.
patent: 5608726 (1997-03-01), Virgile
patent: 5615340 (1997-03-01), Dai et al.
patent: 5623489 (1997-04-01), Cotton et al.
patent: 5633810 (1997-05-01), Mandal et al.
patent: 5689506 (1997-11-01), Chiussi et al.
patent: 5689518 (1997-11-01), Galand et al.
patent: 5734651 (1998-03-01), Blakeley et al.
patent: 5748631 (1998-05-01), Bergantino et al.
patent: 5751971 (1998-05-01), Dobbins et al.
patent: 5754774 (1998-05-01), Bittinger et al.
patent: 5802047 (1998-09-01), Kinoshita
patent: 5812527 (1998-09-01), Kline et al.
patent: 5815737 (1998-07-01), Buckland
patent: 5822319 (1998-10-01), Nagami et al.
patent: 5835491 (1998-11-01), Davis et al.
patent: 5856977 (1999-01-01), Yang et al.
patent: 5859849 (1999-01-01), Parks
patent: 5872783 (1999-02-01), Chin
patent: 5875464 (1999-02-01), Kirk
patent: 5931980 (1998-11-01), Varma et al.
"Foundry Products", downloaded from Website http://www.foundrynet.com/ on Jun. 19, 1997.
Anthony J. McAuley & Paul Francis, "Fast Routing Table Lookup Using CAMs", IEEE, 1993, pp. 1382-1390.
"Gigabit Ethernet", Network Strategy Report, The Burton Group, v2, May 8, 1997 40 pages.
"IP On Speed", Erica Roberts, Internet-Draft, Data Communications on the Web, Mar. 1997, 12 pages.
"Multilayer Topology", White Paper, Internet-Draft, 13 pages, downloaded from Website http://www.baynetworks.com on Apr. 18, 1997,.
Internaitonal Search Report, PCT/US98/13361, 5 pages.
International Search Report, PCT/US98/13200, 6 pages.
International Search Report, PCT/US98/13206, 8 pages.
International Search Report, PCT/US98/13362, 5 pages.
International Search Report, PCT/US98/13203, 7 pages.
International Standard ISO/IEC 10038, ANSI/IEEE Std 802.1D, First Edition, 1993.
"Load Balancing for Multiple Interfaces for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol for VM/MVS", IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, 38(9):7-9 (Sep., 1995).
T. Nishizono et al., "Analysis on a Multilink Packet Transmission System", Electron. Commun. JPN 1, Commun., (USA), 68(9):98-104 (Sep., 1985).
International Search Report, PCT/US 98/13200.
Internationl Search Report, PCT/US 98/13361.
International Search Report, PCT/US 98/13380.
Berg Curt
Hendel Ariel
Muller Shimon
Tangirala Ravi
Duong Frank
Ngo Ricky
Sun Microsystems Inc.
LandOfFree
Shared memory management in a switched network element does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Shared memory management in a switched network element, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Shared memory management in a switched network element will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-943428