ROUTER WITH ROUTING PROCESSORS AND METHODS FOR VIRTUALIZATION

• US 20080008202A1
• Filed: 09/24/2007
• Published: 01/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Eric Peterson, Harun Muliadi, Jean Kodama, Michael Nishimura, Norman Chan, Rexford Hill, Stephen How, Tracy Edmonds, Wayland Jeong, William Terrell
• Original Assignee: Eric Peterson, Harun Muliadi, Jean Kodama, Michael Nishimura, Norman Chan, Rexford Hill, Stephen How, Tracy Edmonds, Wayland Jeong, William Terrell
• Inventors: Peterson, Eric, Edmonds, Tracy, Muliadi, Harun, Hill, Rexford, Terrell, William, Chan, Norman, Nishimura, Michael, How, Stephen, Kodama, Jean, Jeong, Wayland
• Application Number:
  US11/859,956
• Publication Number:
  US 20080008202A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/124 using a combination of metrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/302 Route determination based on requested QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/586 of virtual routers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/50 Queue scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/527 Quantum based scheduling, e.g. credit or deficit based scheduling or token bank
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6225 Fixed service order, e.g. Round Robin
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/10 characterised by the switching fabric construction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/111 Switch interfaces, e.g. port details
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/112 Switch control, e.g. arbitration

Abstract

A router for use in a network includes a scalable architecture and performs methods for implementing quality of service on a logical unit behind a network port; and for implementing storage virtualization. The architecture includes a managing processor, a supervising processor; and a plurality of routing processors coupled to a fabric. The managing processor has an in-band link to a routing processor. A routing processor receives a frame from the network, determines by parsing the frame, the protocol and logical unit number, and routes the frame to a queue according to a traffic class associated with the logical unit number in routing information prepared for the processors. An arbitration scheme empties the queue in accordance with a deficit round robin technique. If a routing processor detects the frame'"'"'s destination is a viral entity, and so is part of a virtual transaction, the router conducts a nonvirtual transaction in concert with the virtual transaction. The nonvirtual transaction accomplishes the intent of the virtual transaction but operates on an actual network port, for example, a storage device.

Claims

41-50. -50. (canceled)

51. A method for revising the configuration of a plurality of routing processors of a network, the method comprising:

a step for facilitating a respective proxy process to route frames of transactions referring to a virtual entity of a first set of virtual entities;

a step for directing a routing processor to route frames of transactions referring to a virtual entity of the first set to a respective proxy process with no further reference to first routing information;

a step for repeating the step for directing for each routing processor of a second set of routing processors that implement virtualization for a virtual entity of the first set;

a step for storing second routing information to implement virtualization for a virtual entity of a third set;

a step for enabling a routing processor to route frames of transactions referring to a virtual entity of the third set in accordance with the second routing information; and

a step for repeating the step for enabling for each routing processor of a fourth set of routing processors that implement virtualization for a virtual entity of the third set.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein routing processors of the fourth set are part of one router of a network.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein a first plurality of routing processors of the fourth set are part of a first router of a network and a second plurality of routing processors of the fourth set are part of a second router of the network.

54. The method of claim 51 wherein one proxy process is facilitated to route frames of transactions referring to all virtual entities of the first set of virtual entities.

55. The method of claim 51 wherein a fifth set of proxy processes are facilitated to route frames of transactions referring to virtual entities of the first set of virtual entities.

56. The method of claim 55 wherein a first plurality of proxy process of the fifth set are performed by a first managing processor and a second plurality of proxy processes of the fifth set are performed by a second managing processor.

57. The method of claim 55 wherein a all proxy processes of the fifth set are performed by one managing processor.

58. The method of claim 51 wherein the step for directing comprises a step for setting a flag to an asserted state and the step for enabling comprises a step for setting the flag to a nonasserted state.

59-68. -68. (canceled)

69. A network for orderly reconfiguration of routing processors, the network comprising:

means for performing at least one proxy process;

a plurality of routing processors;

means for facilitating a respective proxy process to route frames of transactions referring to a virtual entity of a first set of virtual entities;

means for directing a routing processor of the plurality to route frames of transactions referring to a virtual entity of the first set to a respective proxy process with no further reference to first routing information, wherein directing is repeated for each routing processor of a second set of routing processors that implement virtualization for a virtual entity of the first set;

means for storing second routing information to implement virtualization for a virtual entity of a third set; and

means for enabling a routing processor to route frames of transactions referring to a virtual entity of the third set in accordance with the second routing information, wherein enabling is repeated for each routing processor of a fourth set of routing processors that implement virtualization for a virtual entity of the third set.

70. The network of claim 69 wherein routing processors of the fourth set are part of one router of the network.

71. The network of claim 69 wherein a first plurality of routing processors of the fourth set are part of a first router of the network and a second plurality of routing processors of the fourth set are part of a second router of the network.

72. The network of claim 69 wherein one proxy process is facilitated to route frames of transactions referring to all virtual entities of the first set of virtual entities.

73. The network of claim 69 wherein a fifth set of proxy processes are facilitated to route frames of transactions referring to virtual entities of the first set of virtual entities.

74. The network of claim 73 wherein a first plurality of proxy process of the fifth set are performed by a first managing processor and a second plurality of proxy processes of the fifth set are performed by a second managing processor.

75. The network of claim 73 wherein a all proxy processes of the fifth set are performed by one managing processor.

76. The network of claim 69 wherein the means for directing comprises means for setting a flag to an asserted state and the means for enabling comprises means for setting the flag to a nonasserted state.