High performance protocol for an interconnect system of an intermediate network node
First Claim
1. A method for encoding packet data for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards to a routing engine of an intermediate network node, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating an interconnect packet from the packet data received at a line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header, the header comprising a length field and a channel field;
encoding frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators arranged to substantially reduce latency associated with transmission of the interconnect packets;
recovering the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system; and
determining an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of the length field.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interconnect protocol enables encoding of packets for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards to at least one performance routing engine of an aggregation router. The protocol manifests as a unique encoding and encapsulation technique for data transmitted over point-to-point links of the interconnect system. The encapsulation technique includes an interconnect header which is attached to each packet. Framer logic is provided at a transmitter of the system to generate encoded frames from a stream of packet data for transmission over the links and at a receiver to recover the transmitted data from the frames.
37 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for encoding packet data for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards to a routing engine of an intermediate network node, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating an interconnect packet from the packet data received at a line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header, the header comprising a length field and a channel field;
encoding frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators arranged to substantially reduce latency associated with transmission of the interconnect packets;
recovering the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system; and
determining an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of the length field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for encoding packet data for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards to a routing engine of an intermediate network node, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating an interconnect packet from the packet data received at a line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header, the header comprising a length field and a channel field;
encoding frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators arranged to substantially reduce latency associated with transmission of the interconnect packets;
determining an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of the length field;
recovering the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system;
comparing the length content with minimum and maximum values to determine whether the interconnect packet has a length of supportable size; and
discarding the interconnect packet if the length is of an unsupportable size.
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9. A system for encoding packet data for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards to a routing engine of an intermediate network node, the system comprising:
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interface circuitry of the routing engine and each line card, the interface circuitry adapted to generate an interconnect packet from the packet data initially received at the line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header, the header comprising a length field and a channel field;
means, coupled to the interface circuitry, for (i) encoding frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system and (ii) recovering the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators arranged to substantially reduce latency associated with transmission of the interconnect packets; and
a length check circuit coupled to the interface circuitry and configured to determine an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of the length field. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for encoding packet data for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards to a routing engine of an intermediate network node, the system comprising:
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interface circuitry of the routing engine and each line card, the interface circuitry adapted to generate an interconnect packet from the packet data initially received at the line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header, the header comprising a length field and a channel field;
means, coupled to the interface circuitry, for (i) encoding frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system and (ii) recovering the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators arranged to substantially reduce latency associated with transmission of the interconnect packets;
a length check circuit coupled to the interface circuitry and configured to determine an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of the length field;
a receiver cooperatively coupled to framing logic and adapted to receive the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system;
the receiver has, first and second data registers configured to receive data from respective data wires of the interconnect system; and
a clock receiver for receiving a forwarded clock signal from a clock wire of the interconnect system, the clock receiver configured to feed a non-inverted copy of the received clock signal to the first data register and an inverted copy of the received clock signal to the second data register. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. Apparatus adapted to process packet data for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards to a muting engine of an intermediate network node, the system comprising:
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interface circuitry of the routing engine and each line card, the interface circuitry adapted to generate an interconnect packet from the packet data initially received at the line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header, the header comprising a length field and a channel field;
framing logic cooperatively coupled to (i) a transmitter to encode frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system and (ii) a receiver to recover the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators arranged to substantially reduce latency associated with transmission of the interconnect packets; and
a length check circuit coupled to the interface circuitry and configured to determine an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of the length field.
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22. A method for encoding packet data for transmission over an interconnect system used to couple a plurality of line cards in a network device, comprising:
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generating an interconnect packet from the packet data received at a line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header;
encoding frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators;
recovering the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system; and
determining an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of a length field in the header. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A network device, the network device having a plurality of line cards coupled by an interconnect, comprising:
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means for generating an interconnect packet from the packet data received at a line card, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header;
means for encoding frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators;
means for recovering the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system; and
means for determining an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of a length field in the header. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A network device, comprising:
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a plurality of line cards coupled by an interconnect;
interface circuitry to generate an interconnect packet from the packet data received at a line card of the line cards, the interconnect packet including a data payload appended to a header;
sending transceiver logic to encode frames from a stream of interconnect packets for transmission over the interconnect system, each encoded frame including a plurality of start of packet (SOP) indicators;
receiving transceiver logic to recover the encoded frames and stream of interconnect packets from the interconnect system; and
length determining circuitry to determine an end of each interconnect packet within the recovered stream using a length content of a length field in the header. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification