Queue pair resolution in infiniband fabrics

• US 7,116,673 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2001
• Issued: 10/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Recio, Renato John, Kashyap, Vivek, Pfister, Gregory Francis, Neal, Danny Marvin
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Ricky Q.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HAILE, FEBEN
• Application Number:
  US09/925,583
• Publication Number:
  US 20030031183A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,881 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/401, 370/392, 370/252, 370/236, 370/395.2, 370/412, 370/413, 370/389, 370/409, 370/397, 370/395.7, 370/395.71, 711/153, 711/163, 711/173, 711/113, 711/114, 711/118, 711/119, 711/112, 709/201, 709/202, 709/216, 709/224, 709/228
• US Class Current: 370/412
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/168 specially adapted for link layer protocols, e.g. asynchronous transfer mode [ATM], synchronous optical network [SONET] or point-to-point protocol [PPP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

A method for determining parameters needed to communicate with a remote node in a computer network is provided. The invention comprises determining the location of the remote node to which an InfiniBand (IB) node might desire to communicate. This resolution comprises determining the location of the remote node based on a desired application or service, and then determining the IB parameters needed to communicate with the remote node. The resolution might also involve determining the specific queue pairs that associated with the service dynamically. The general solution is applied to IP service resolution.

Claims

1. A method for determining parameters needed to communicate with a remote node in a computer network, the method comprising:

compiling a queue-pair-number map, wherein the map associates unique queue pair numbers with services hosted by network nodes;

receiving a service request from a client;

looking up the queue pair number associated to the requested service;

replying to the client, wherein the reply includes;

the address of the node hosting the requested service; and

the queue pair number associated with the requested service;

registering the network nodes with a central server, wherein the central server contains the queue-pair-number map;

receiving a second service request from the client, wherein the second request is addressed to the queue pair number included in the first reply;

associating a new queue pair number with a new dynamic instance of the requested service; and

returning a second reply to the client, wherein the second reply includes the new queue pair number.

2. A method for determining parameters needed to communicate with a remote node in a computer network, the method comprising:

associating a service hosted by the node with a well-known queue pair number, wherein the well-known queue pair number corresponds to at least one well-known port in the node;

receiving a service request from a client, wherein the request is addressed to the well-known queue pair number; and

replying to the client, wherein the reply contains attributes necessary for communication with the requested service, wherein the reply returned to the client includes a new queue pair number which differs from the well-known queue pair minter, wherein the new queue pair number is used by the client for subsequent communication with the service.

3. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in a data processing system, for determining parameters needed to communicate with a remote node in a computer network, the computer program product comprising:

instructions for compiling a queue-pair-number map, wherein the map associates unique queue pair numbers with services hosted by network nodes;

instructions for receiving a service request from a client;

instructions for looking up the queue pair number associated to the requested service;

instructions for replying to the client, wherein the reply includes;

the address of the node hosting the requested service; and

the queue pair number associated with the requested service;

instructions for registering the network nodes with a central server, wherein the central server contains the queue-pair-number map;

instructions for receiving a second service request from the client, wherein the second request is addressed to the queue pair number included in the first reply;

instructions for associating a new queue pair number with a new dynamic instance of the requested service; and

instructions for returning a second reply to the client, wherein the second reply includes the new queue pair number.

4. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in a data processing system, for determining parameters needed to communicate wit a remote node in a computer network, the computer program product comprising:

instructions for associating a service hosted by the node with a well-known queue pair number, wherein the well-known queue pair number corresponds to at least one well-known port in the node;

instructions for receiving a service request from a client, wherein the request is addressed to the well-known queue pair number; and

instructions for replying to the client, wherein the reply contains attributes necessary for communication with the requested service, wherein the reply returned to the client includes a new queue pair number which differs from the well-known queue pair number, wherein the new queue pair number is used by the client for subsequent communication with the service.

5. A system for determining parameters needed to communicate with a remote node in a computer network, the system comprising:

a compiler which compiles a queue-pair-number map, wherein the map associates unique queue pair numbers with services hosted by network nodes;

a receiver which receives a service request from a client;

a look-up component which looks up the queue pair number mapped to the requested service;

a response component which replies to the client, wherein the reply includes;

the address of the node hosting the requested service; and

the queue pair number associated with the requested service;

a registration component which registers the network nodes with a central server, wherein the central server contains the queue-pair-number map;

a second receiver which receives a second service request from the client, wherein the second request is addressed to the queue pair number included in the first reply;

a processing component which associates a new queue pair number with a new dynamic instance of the requested service; and

a second response component which sends a second reply to the client, wherein the second reply includes the new queue pair number.