Apparatus and method for packet coalescing within interconnection network routers
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- scanning at least one input buffer to identify at least two network packets having a different source and a matching destination, each network packet including a single coherence protocol message;
combining the coherence protocol messages within the identified network packets into a coalesced network packet; and
transmitting the coalesced network packet to the matching destination.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for packet coalescing within interconnection network routers. In one embodiment, the method includes the scan of at least one input buffer to identify at least two network packets that include coherence protocol messages and are directed to the same destination, but from different sources. In one embodiment, coherence protocol messages within the network packets are combined into a coalesced network packet. Once combined, the coalesced network packet is transmitted to the same or matching destination. In one embodiment, combining multiple network packets (each containing a single logical coherence message) into a larger, coalesced network packet amortizes the fixed overhead of sending a network packet including a single coherence message, as compared to the larger, coalesced network packet, to improve bandwidth usage. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
72 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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scanning at least one input buffer to identify at least two network packets having a different source and a matching destination, each network packet including a single coherence protocol message;
combining the coherence protocol messages within the identified network packets into a coalesced network packet; and
transmitting the coalesced network packet to the matching destination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method comprising:
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storing detected network packets including a coherence protocol message within a merge buffer;
scanning the merge buffer to identify at least two network packets having a different source and a matching destination; and
forming a coalesced network packet from coherence protocol messages within the identified network packets. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus, comprising:
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at least one input buffer including a plurality of read ports; and
a controller to scan the at least one input buffer via a read port to identify at least two network packets having a different source and a matching destination, each network packet including a coherence protocol message, and to combine coherence protocol messages within the identified network packets into a coalesced network packet. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system comprising:
a network including a plurality of processor nodes, each processor node including an interconnection router comprising;
at least one input buffer including a plurality of read ports, and a controller to scan the at least one input buffer via a read port to identify at least two network packets having a different source and a matching destination, each identified network packet including a coherence protocol message and to combine coherence protocol messages within the identified network packets into a coalesced network packet. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
Specification