Method and apparatus for facilitating the implementation of an IP link over an InfiniBand network

• US 20030236900A1
• Filed: 05/14/2002
• Published: 12/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Chu, Hsiao-Keng
• Application Number:
  US10/146,103
• Publication Number:
  US 20030236900A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/168 specially adapted for link layer protocols, e.g. asynchronous transfer mode [ATM], synchronous optical network [SONET] or point-to-point protocol [PPP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/169 Special adaptations of TCP, UDP or IP for interworking of IP based networks with other networks protocols for interworking, protocol conversion H04L69/08

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates implementing an Internet Protocol (IP) link over an InfiniBand™ (IB) network. During operation, the system receives a Partition Key (P_Key) and a Queue Key (Q_Key) defined within the IB network. Next, the system associates the IP link with the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key so that operations involving the IP link are mapped to a subset of the nodes in the IB network defined by the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key.

Claims

1. A method for implementing an Internet Protocol (IP) link over an InfiniBand™

(IB) network, comprising;

receiving a Partition Key (P_Key) defined within the IB network;

receiving a Queue Key (Q_Key) defined within the IB network; and

associating the IP link with the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key, so that operations involving the IP link are mapped to a subset of the nodes in the IB network defined by the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an IB multicast group ID (MGID) to facilitate multicast communications.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising creating a multicast group record (MCGroupRecord) containing the P_Key, Q_Key, and the MGID.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising storing the MCGroupRecord in a database.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising identifying nodes in the IB network that are part of the same IP link by searching for nodes with the same P_Key, Q_Key, and MGID.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the Q_Key is a well-known value to facilitate the implementation of a organization-wide IP link.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the Q_Key is a private value to facilitate the creation of a departmental IP link.

8. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for implementing an Internet Protocol (IP) link over an InfiniBand™

(IB) network, comprising;

receiving a Partition Key (P_Key) defined within the IB network;

receiving a Queue Key (Q_Key) defined within the IB network; and

associating the IP link with the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key, so that operations involving the IP link are mapped to a subset of the nodes in the IB network defined by the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises receiving an IB multicast group ID (MGID) to facilitate multicast communications.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises creating a multicast group record (MCGroupRecord) containing the P_Key, Q_Key, and the MGID.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises storing the MCGroupRecord in a database.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises identifying nodes in the IB network that are part of the same IP link by searching for nodes with the same P_Key, Q_Key, and MGID.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the Q_Key is a well-known value to facilitate the implementation of a organization-wide IP link.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the Q_Key is a private value to facilitate the creation of a departmental IP link.

15. An apparatus for implementing an Internet Protocol (IP) link over an InfiniBand™

(IB) network, comprising;

a receiving mechanism configured to receive a Partition Key (P_Key) defined within the IB network;

wherein the receiving mechanism is further configured to receive a Queue Key (Q_Key) defined within the IB network; and

and association mechanism configured to associate the IP link with the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key, so that operations involving the IP link are mapped to a subset of the nodes in the IB network defined by the combination of the P_Key and the Q_Key.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the receiving mechanism is further configured to receive an IB multicast group ID (MGID) to facilitate multicast communications.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a creation mechanism configured to create a multicast group record (MCGroupRecord) containing the P_Key, Q_Key, and the MGID.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a storing mechanism configured to store the MCGroupRecord in a database.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising an identification mechanism configured to identify nodes in the IB network that are part of the same IP link by searching for nodes with the same P_Key, Q_Key, and MGID.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the Q_Key is a well-known value to facilitate the implementation of a organization-wide IP link.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the Q_Key is a private value to facilitate the creation of a departmental IP link.