Method and apparatus for priority based flow control in an ethernet architecture
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- identifying a receive capability associated with one or more priority levels of Ethernet traffic for a network device; and
generating a control message including a flow control priority level, the flow control priority level denoting the identified priority level above or below which the network device has the ability to receive Ethernet traffic.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for priority-based flow control in an Ethernet architecture is generally described. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method is presented comprising identifying a receive capability associated with one or more priority levels of Ethernet traffic for a network device, and generating a control message including a flow control priority level, the flow control priority level denoting the identified priority level above or below which the network device has the ability to receive Ethernet traffic.
184 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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identifying a receive capability associated with one or more priority levels of Ethernet traffic for a network device; and
generating a control message including a flow control priority level, the flow control priority level denoting the identified priority level above or below which the network device has the ability to receive Ethernet traffic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method comprising:
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receiving a control message denoting a flow control priority level from a network device; and
throttling transmission to the network device of a subset of Ethernet traffic having a priority level above or below that denoted in the received control message. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A network interface comprising:
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a plurality of receive buffers, each associated with a particular priority level of Ethernet traffic; and
control logic, coupled to the receive buffers, to identify a receive capability of each of the receive buffers and selectively generate control message(s) including a flow control priority level denoting the identified priority level above or below which the network interface has the ability to receive Ethernet traffic. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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- 28. A machine accessible medium comprising content which, when executed by an accessing machine, causes the machine to implement a network interface with enhanced Ethernet flow control capability to selectively throttle a mere subset of Ethernet traffic.
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29. A machine accessible medium according to claim 29, wherein the network interface identifies a receive capability associated with one or more priority levels of Ethernet traffic for a network device, and selectively generates a control message including a flow control priority level, the flow control priority level denoting the identified priority level above or below which the network device has the ability to receive Ethernet traffic
Specification