Method and apparatus for per traffic flow buffer management
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- establishing, for each of a plurality of processes sharing a common buffer resource, corresponding buffer utilization thresholds, each of said buffer utilization thresholds representing a predetermined maximum amount of said common buffer resource that the corresponding process may use; and
dynamically adjusting a first buffer utilization threshold corresponding to a first process of said plurality of processes according to the usage of said common buffer resource by all of said plurality of processes.
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Abstract
A method of managing oversubscription of a common buffer resource shared by a number of traffic flows in a cell switching network in response to the utilization of the common buffer resource. A buffer utilization threshold is established for each of the traffic flows. As new cells arrive, the global usage of the buffer resource is monitored. As the buffer utilization increases, the thresholds for each of the traffic flows are dynamically adjusted based upon the global usage of the buffer. Aggressive buffer allocations are scaled back when necessary, thereby leaving space for traffic flows which are relatively empty. In one embodiment, the thresholds are coded in mantissa and exponent form so that the scaling is accomplished by adjusting the exponent value.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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establishing, for each of a plurality of processes sharing a common buffer resource, corresponding buffer utilization thresholds, each of said buffer utilization thresholds representing a predetermined maximum amount of said common buffer resource that the corresponding process may use; and
dynamically adjusting a first buffer utilization threshold corresponding to a first process of said plurality of processes according to the usage of said common buffer resource by all of said plurality of processes.
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2. A buffer management process for a cell switching communications network having a first node, said first node having a common buffer being shared by a plurality of network connections including a first connection, the process comprising:
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receiving a first cell at said first node, said first cell being associated with said first connection;
determining a buffer count for said common buffer, said buffer count representing a current utilization of said common buffer by said plurality of connections;
establishing a first connection threshold for said first connection according to a predetermined maximum amount of said common buffer that said first connection may use and said buffer count; and
determining whether said first cell will be accommodated in said common buffer using said first connection threshold.
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3. A buffer management system for congestion prevention in a cell switching communications network comprising a plurality of logical connections, the buffer management system comprising:
a first node receiving network traffic transmitted over said plurality of logical connections, said first node having a common buffer shared by said plurality of logical connections and further having a buffer control device, said buffer control device monitoring the usage of said common buffer by said plurality of logical connections and dynamically scaling a buffer utilization threshold according to a predetermined maximum amount of said common buffer that a corresponding first one of said plurality of logical connections may use and said usage.
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4. A node for a cell switching communications network, the node comprising:
a lookup table stored in a memory, said lookup table comprising buffer threshold scaling factors to be used to determine whether or not to admit a cell of a first of a plurality of traffic flows transmitted within said cell switching communications network to a common buffer shared by said plurality of traffic flows, said buffer threshold scaling factors arranged according to a predetermined maximum amount of the common buffer that the first of said plurality of traffic flows may use and the total usage of the common buffer by all of the plurality of traffic flows.
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5. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for establishing, for each of a plurality of processes sharing a common buffer resource, corresponding buffer utilization thresholds, each of said buffer utilization thresholds representing a predetermined maximum amount of said common buffer resource that the corresponding process may use; and
means for dynamically adjusting a first buffer utilization threshold corresponding to a first process of said plurality of processes according to the usage of said common buffer resource by all of said plurality of processes. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for receiving a first cell at a first node, said first cell being associated with a first connection;
means for determining a buffer count for a common buffer, said buffer count representing a current utilization of said common buffer by a plurality of network connections;
means for establishing a first connection threshold for said first connection according to a predetermined maximum amount of said common buffer that said first connection may use and said buffer count; and
means for determining whether said first cell will be accommodated in said common buffer using said first connection threshold. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
means for establishing an initial connection threshold corresponding to said predetermined maximum amount of said common buffer that said first connection may use; and
means for dynamically adjusting said initial connection threshold according to said buffer count, said dynamic adjusting producing a first scaled threshold.
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10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the means for determining whether said first cell will be accommodate comprises:
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means for establishing a connection cell count, the connection cell count indicating the number of cells associated with the first connection stored in said common buffer;
means for comparing said connection cell count to said first scaled threshold, and wherein the apparatus further comprises means for denying admittance of said first cell to said common buffer if said connection cell count exceeds said first scaled threshold.
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Specification