Internet user-bandwidth management and control tool
First Claim
1. A network bandwidth management tool, comprising:
- a first and a second network interface "A" and "B" that provide for a connection of a group of network users to network;
a first and a second physical layer interface transceiver respectively connected to the first and second network interfaces "A" and "B";
a first and a second media access controller (MAC) respectively connected by media-independent interfaces (MII) to receive symbol information from the first and second physical layer interface transceivers;
a cross-connection that patches through a receiver symbol output of the first physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol input of the second physical layer interface transceiver, and that patches through a receiver symbol output of the second physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol input of the first physical layer interface transceiver; and
a first and a second microcomputer respectively connected to the first and second MACs and that provide for a computing of traffic bandwidth associated with individual network addresses related to said group of users, wherein said computing of traffic bandwidth is based on symbol information read by each of the first and second MACs from said MII interfaces.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A bandwidth manager for network segments comprises a pair of media access controllers connected by respective MII data interfaces to IEEE 802.3 physical layer transceivers. A data selector connected amongst the media access controllers and physical layer transceivers allows the transceivers to be cross connected at their media-independent data interfaces while the media access controllers are simply used to monitor the symbols being exchanged. The data selector also allows the media access controllers and physical layer transceivers to be connected in pairs with each pair able to control the data traffic in each direction between two network segments. In such mode, bandwidth usage statistics are computed packet-by-packet for each IP-address under management and bandwidth excesses are either mitigated or blocked completely.
196 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A network bandwidth management tool, comprising:
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a first and a second network interface "A" and "B" that provide for a connection of a group of network users to network; a first and a second physical layer interface transceiver respectively connected to the first and second network interfaces "A" and "B"; a first and a second media access controller (MAC) respectively connected by media-independent interfaces (MII) to receive symbol information from the first and second physical layer interface transceivers; a cross-connection that patches through a receiver symbol output of the first physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol input of the second physical layer interface transceiver, and that patches through a receiver symbol output of the second physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol input of the first physical layer interface transceiver; and a first and a second microcomputer respectively connected to the first and second MACs and that provide for a computing of traffic bandwidth associated with individual network addresses related to said group of users, wherein said computing of traffic bandwidth is based on symbol information read by each of the first and second MACs from said MII interfaces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A network bandwidth manager, comprising:
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a first and a second ETHERNET network interface "A" and "B" that provide for an internal protocol (IP) connection of a group of network users to network; a first and a second physical layer interface transceiver respectively connected to the first and second network interfaces "A" and "B"; a first and a second media access controller (MAC) respectively connected by media-independent interfaces (MII) to receive symbol information from the first and second physical layer interface transceivers; a cross-connection that patches through a receiver symbol output of the first physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol input of the second physical layer interface transceiver, and that patches through a receiver symbol output of the second physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol input of the first physical layer interface transceiver; a first and a second microcomputer respectively connected to the first and second MACs and that provide for a computing of traffic bandwidth associated with individual network IP-addresses related to said group of users, wherein said computing of traffic bandwidth is based on symbol information read by each of the first and second MACs from said MII interfaces; a fail-safe mechanism providing for a direct interconnection of said group of network users to said network during an abnormal condition and for insertion of the tool via the first and second network interfaces "A" and "B" during a normal condition, wherein, said normal and abnormal conditions are derived from a processor interrupt signal associated with either of the first and second MACs; and a mode selector connected to disable the crossconnection and instead route said receiver symbol output of the first physical layer interface transceiver to a receiver symbol input of the first MAC, and route said receiver symbol output of the second physical layer interface transceiver to a receiver symbol input of the second MAC, and route said transmitter symbol input of the first physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol output of the second MAC, and route said transmitter symbol input of the second physical layer interface transceiver to a transmitter symbol output of the first MAC, wherein, data traffic moving from network interface "A" to "B" must be processed by the first MAC, and data traffic moving from network interface "B" to "A" must be processed by the second MAC. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification