METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BANDWIDTH CONTROL ON A NETWORK INTERFACE CARD

• US 20090268611A1
• Filed: 04/28/2008
• Published: 10/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Johnson, Darrin P., Belgaied, Kais, Marcondes, Cesar A. C., Persson, Anders D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,801,046 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/28 in relation to timing considerations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/50 Queue scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/568 Calendar queues or timing rings

Abstract

A method for bandwidth control on a network interface card (NIC), the method that includes initiating a current time period, receiving a plurality of incoming packets for a receive ring, populating, by a NIC, the receive ring with the plurality of incoming packets according to a size of the receive ring during the current time period, wherein the size of the receive ring is based on an allocated bandwidth for the receive ring, and sending, by the NIC, the plurality of incoming packets to a host when a duration of the current time period elapses, wherein the duration is based on the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring.

Claims

1. A method for bandwidth control on a network interface card (NIC), the method comprising:

initiating a current time period;

receiving a plurality of incoming packets for a receive ring;

populating, by a NIC, the receive ring with the plurality of incoming packets according to a size of the receive ring during the current time period, wherein the size of the receive ring is based on an allocated bandwidth for the receive ring; and

sending, by the NIC, the plurality of incoming packets to a host when a duration of the current time period elapses, wherein the duration is based on the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a bandwidth parameter from the host for the receive ring, wherein the bandwidth parameter identifies the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring; and

setting, by the NIC, the size of the receive ring and the duration based on the bandwidth parameter.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the NIC, a threshold number of the plurality of incoming packets to the host when the threshold number of the plurality of incoming packets is received.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining whether an interrupt is remaining in the current time period, wherein the current time period has a preset number of interrupts, and wherein the threshold number of the plurality of incoming packets are only sent when an interrupt is determined to be remaining.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the size of the receive ring is dependent on the preset number of interrupts and the bandwidth parameter.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the host, an outbound packet;

storing the outbound packet in a transmit ring within the NIC; and

determining whether the transmit ring stores a maximum number of outbound packets;

sending a stop signal to the host when the transmit ring is determined to store the maximum number of outbound packets; and

transmitting the outbound packet via a network when the transmit ring is determined not to store the maximum number of outbound packets.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining whether transmit ring is able to receive additional outbound packets after sending the stop signal; and

sending a resume signal to the host when the transmit ring is determined to be able to receive additional outbound packets.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the size of the receive ring comprises specifying a preset number of descriptors for the receive ring.

9. A method for bandwidth control on a network interface card (NIC), the method comprising:

determining whether an expected dispersion duration has elapsed since a last interrupt time, wherein the expected dispersion duration is based on an allocated bandwidth for a receive ring;

identifying a subset of a plurality of packets in the receive ring, wherein the number of packets in the subset is based on the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring;

associating the subset with an available identifier when the expected dispersion duration has elapsed; and

sending, by the NIC, the subset to a host based on the available identifier.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein identifying the subset of the plurality of packets in the receive ring comprises:

identifying an oldest packet in the receive ring based on an arrival time associated with each of the plurality of packets, wherein the oldest packet is a member of the subset.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving the bandwidth parameter for the receive ring from the host, wherein the bandwidth parameter specifies the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring; and

setting, by the NIC, the expected dispersion duration based on the bandwidth parameter.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving the plurality of packets for the receive ring; and

populating, by the NIC, the receive ring with the plurality of packets, wherein each of the plurality of packets are associated with an unavailable identifier and the arrival time.

13. A network interface card, comprising:

a receive ring; and

a receive regulation engine configured to;

initiate a current time period;

receive a plurality of incoming packets for the receive ring;

populate the receive ring with the plurality of incoming packets according to a size of the receive ring during the current time period, wherein the size of the receive ring is based on an allocated bandwidth for the receive ring; and

send the plurality of incoming packets to a host when a duration of the current time period elapses, wherein the duration is based on the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring.

14. The network interface card of claim 13, wherein the rate regulation engine is further configured to:

receive a bandwidth parameter from the host for the receive ring, wherein the bandwidth parameter identifies the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring; and

set the size of the receive ring and the duration based on the bandwidth parameter.

15. The network interface card of claim 13, wherein the rate regulation engine is further configured to:

send a threshold number of the plurality of incoming packets to the host when the threshold number of the plurality of incoming packets is received.

16. The network interface card of claim 15, wherein the rate regulation engine is further configured to:

determine whether an interrupt is remaining in the current time period, wherein the current time period has a preset number of interrupts, and wherein the threshold number of the plurality of incoming packets is only sent when an interrupt is determined to be remaining.

17. The network interface card of claim 16, wherein the size of the receive ring is dependent on the preset number of interrupts and the bandwidth parameter.

18. The network interface card of claim 13, further comprising:

a transmit regulation engine configured to;

receive, from the host, an outbound packet;

store the outbound packet in a transmit ring within the NIC; and

determine whether the transmit ring stores a maximum number of outbound packets; and

send a stop signal to the host when the transmit ring is determined to store the maximum number of outbound packets; and

outbound rate regulation engine configured to;

transmit the outbound packet via a network when the transmit ring is determined not to store the maximum number of outbound packets.

19. The network interface card of claim 18, wherein the transmit regulation engine is further configured to:

determine whether a transmit ring is able receive additional outbound packets after sending the stop signal; and

send a resume signal to the host when the transmit ring is determined to be able to receive additional outbound packets.

20. The network interface card of claim 13, wherein setting the size of the receive ring is performed by specifying a preset number of descriptors for the receive ring.