METHOD AND SYSTEM OF USING COUNTERS TO MONITOR A SYSTEM PORT BUFFER

• US 20110205893A1
• Filed: 05/02/2011
• Published: 08/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gourlay, Douglas Alan, Berly, Mark, Sabasteanski, John, Khoo, Danny Tak Hong
• Granted Patent: US 8,531,960 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0677 Localisation of faults
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/9063 Intermediate storage in different physical parts of a node or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/9078 using an external memory or storage device

Abstract

Methods and systems for using counters to monitor port buffers are described. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving data packets into a system port buffer having different queues. Also, counters are associated with the queues. Further, the method includes scanning the counters, in which the counters count the number of dropped data packets associated with an individual queue of the different queues. Moreover, the method includes determining if the number of dropped data packets for an individual queue is greater than a predetermined number. If the number of dropped data packets is greater than the predetermined number, then a message is generated.

Claims

1. One or more computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions and when the software is executed operable to:

monitor a counter associated with a packet buffer queue;

forward incoming data packets to a network analysis module (NAM);

determine that a number of dropped packets for the packet buffer queue exceeds a predetermined number;

terminate forwarding based on the determination;

access the NAM for determining a source of a data packet forwarded from the packet buffer queue that immediately precedes the termination of forwarding; and

infer that the source of the immediately preceding data packet is a same source of the dropped data packets.