Methods and apparatus for network congestion control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- identifying a received data sequence at a buffer controller in a fibre channel network, the received data sequence having a source corresponding to a port among a plurality of ports coupled to the buffer controller and having a destination reachable through a shared resource coupled to the buffer controller, wherein the shared resource is used by traffic associated with the plurality of ports coupled to the buffer controller to reach a plurality of destinations;
forwarding the received data sequence to the shared resource;
receiving a transmission credit from the shared resource, wherein the port associated with the received data sequence is blocked after the transmission credit is received if the transmission credit is not received from the shared resource within a predetermined period of time.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for controlling congestion in a network such as a fiber channel network. Techniques are provided for detecting congestion at a shared resource such as a network node. When a controller sends data to a shared resource, the delay between sending the data and receiving a credit is measured. If the delay is significant, it is assumed that the path towards the destination associated with the data is congested and subsequent traffic from the port associated with the data is blocked.
161 Citations
33 Claims
-
1. A method, comprising:
-
identifying a received data sequence at a buffer controller in a fibre channel network, the received data sequence having a source corresponding to a port among a plurality of ports coupled to the buffer controller and having a destination reachable through a shared resource coupled to the buffer controller, wherein the shared resource is used by traffic associated with the plurality of ports coupled to the buffer controller to reach a plurality of destinations; forwarding the received data sequence to the shared resource; receiving a transmission credit from the shared resource, wherein the port associated with the received data sequence is blocked after the transmission credit is received if the transmission credit is not received from the shared resource within a predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An apparatus comprising:
-
means for identifying a received data sequence at a buffer controller in a fibre channel network, the received data sequence having a source corresponding to a port among plurality of ports coupled to the buffer controller and having a destination reachable through a shared resource coupled to the buffer controller, wherein the shared resource is used by traffic associated with the plurality of ports coupled to the buffer controller to reach a plurality of destinations; means for forwarding the received data sequence to the shared resource; means for receiving a transmission credit from the shared resource, wherein the port associated with the received data sequence is blocked after the transmission credit is received if the transmission credit is not received from the shared resource within a predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An apparatus comprising:
-
a plurality of input ports configured to receive data sequences having destinations reachable through a shared resource, a buffer controller configured to pull a received data sequence from one of the plurality of input ports, forward the received data sequence to the shared resource, and receive a transmission credit from the shared resource after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, wherein an input port associated with the received data sequence is blocked after the transmission credit is received to control congestion in a fibre channel network if the transmission credit is not received from the shared resource within a predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
Specification