Two-way link aggregation
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for communication, comprising:
- coupling a network node to one or more interface modules using a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel, at least one of said first physical links being a bi-directional link operative to communicate in both an upstream direction and a downstream direction;
coupling each of the one or more interface modules to a communication network using a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel, at least one of said second physical links being a bi-directional link operative to communicate in both an upstream direction and a downstream direction;
receiving a data frame having frame attributes sent between the communication network and the network node;
selecting, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group; and
sending the data frame over the selected first and second physical links,said sending comprising communicating along at least one of said bi-directional links.
8 Assignments
Litigations
2 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for communication includes coupling a network node to one or more interface modules using a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel. Each of the one or more interface modules is coupled to a communication network using a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel. A data frame having frame attributes sent between the communication network and the network node is received. A first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group are selected in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes. The data frame is sent over the selected first and second physical links. This method allows two or more link aggregation groups to be concatenated, using a single processing stage to determine port assignment for each frame in each of the link aggregation groups.
105 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for communication, comprising:
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coupling a network node to one or more interface modules using a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel, at least one of said first physical links being a bi-directional link operative to communicate in both an upstream direction and a downstream direction; coupling each of the one or more interface modules to a communication network using a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel, at least one of said second physical links being a bi-directional link operative to communicate in both an upstream direction and a downstream direction; receiving a data frame having frame attributes sent between the communication network and the network node; selecting, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group; and sending the data frame over the selected first and second physical links, said sending comprising communicating along at least one of said bi-directional links. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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4. A method for communication, comprising:
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coupling a network node to one or more interface modules using a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel; coupling each of the one or more interface modules to a communication network using a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel; receiving a data frame having frame attributes sent between the communication network and the network node; selecting, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group; and sending the data frame over the selected first and second physical links, at least one of the first and second groups of physical links comprising an Ethernet link aggregation (LAG) group.
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5. A method for communication, comprising:
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coupling a network node to one or more interface modules using a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel; coupling each of the one or more interface modules to a communication network using a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel; receiving a data frame having frame attributes sent between the communication network and the network node; selecting, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group; and sending the data frame over the selected first and second physical links, coupling the network node to the one or more interface modules comprises aggregating two or more of the first physical links into an external Ethernet link aggregation (LAG) group so as to increase a data bandwidth provided to the network node.
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13. A method for communication, comprising:
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coupling a network node to one or more interface modules using a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel; coupling each of the one or more interface modules to a communication network using a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel; receiving a data frame having frame attributes sent between the communication network and the network node; selecting, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group; and sending the data frame over the selected first and second physical links, coupling the network node to the one or more interface modules and coupling each of the one or more interface modules to the communication network comprising specifying bandwidth requirements comprising at least one of a committed information rate (CIR), a peak information rate (PIR) and an excess information rate (EIR) of a communication service provided by the communication network to the network node, and allocating a bandwidth for the communication service over the first and second physical links responsively to the bandwidth requirements.
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14. A method for connecting user ports to a communication network, comprising:
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coupling the user ports to one or more user interface modules; coupling each user interface module to the communication network via a backplane using two or more backplane traces arranged in parallel, at least one of said backplane traces being bi-directional and operative to communicate in both an upstream direction and a downstream direction; receiving data frames sent between the user ports and the communication network, the data frames having respective frame attributes; for each data frame, selecting responsively to at least one of the respective frame attributes a backplane trace from the two or more backplane traces; and sending the data frame over the selected backplane trace; said sending comprising communicating along said at least one of said backplane traces. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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15. A method for connecting user ports to a communication network, comprising:
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coupling the user ports to one or more user interface modules; coupling each user interface module to the communication network via a backplane using two or more backplane traces arranged in parallel; receiving data frames sent between the user ports and the communication network, the data frames having respective frame attributes; for each data frame, selecting responsively to at least one of the respective frame attributes a backplane trace from the two or more backplane traces; and sending the data frame over the selected backplane trace, at least some of the backplane traces being aggregated into an Ethernet link aggregation (LAG) group.
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17. Apparatus for connecting a network node with a communication network, comprising:
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one or more interface modules, which are arranged to process data frames having frame attributes sent between the network node and the communication network, at least one of said interface modules being operative to communicate in both an upstream direction and a downstream direction; a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the network node to the one or more interface modules; a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the one or more interface modules to the communication network; and a control module, which is arranged to select for each data frame sent between the communication network and the network node, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group over which to send the data frame; at least one of said first physical links and at least one of said second links being bi-directional links operative to communicate in both said upstream direction and said downstream direction. - View Dependent Claims (18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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19. Apparatus for connecting a network node with a communication network, comprising:
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one or more interface modules, which are arranged to process data frames having frame attributes sent between the network node and the communication network; a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the network node to the one or more interface modules; a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the one or more interface modules to the communication network; and a control module, which is arranged to select for each data frame sent between the communication network and the network node, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group over which to send the data frame, at least one of the first and second groups of physical links comprising an Ethernet link aggregation (LAG) group.
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20. Apparatus for connecting a network node with a communication network, comprising:
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one or more interface modules, which are arranged to process data frames having frame attributes sent between the network node and the communication network; a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the network node to the one or more interface modules; a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the one or more interface modules to the communication network; and a control module, which is arranged to select for each data frame sent between the communication network and the network node, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group over which to send the data frame, two or more of the first physical links being aggregated into an external Ethernet link aggregation (LAG) group so as to increase a data bandwidth provided to the network node.
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28. Apparatus for connecting a network node with a communication network, comprising:
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one or more interface modules, which are arranged to process data frames having frame attributes sent between the network node and the communication network; a first group of first physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the network node to the one or more interface modules; a second group of second physical links arranged in parallel so as to couple the one or more interface modules to the communication network; and a control module, which is arranged to select for each data frame sent between the communication network and the network node, in a single computation based on at least one of the frame attributes, a first physical link out of the first group and a second physical link out of the second group over which to send the data frame, the communication network being arranged to provide a communication service to the network node, the service having specified bandwidth requirements comprising at least one of a committed information rate (CR), a peak information rate (PIR) and an excess information rate (EIR), and the first and second groups of physical links being dimensioned to provide an allocated bandwidth for the communication service responsively to the bandwidth requirements.
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29. Apparatus for connecting user ports to a communication network, comprising:
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one or more user interface modules coupled to the user ports, which are arranged to process data frames having frame attributes sent between the user ports and the communication network, at least one of said user interface modules being bi-directional and operative to communicate in both an upstream direction and a downstream direction; a backplane having the one or more user interface modules coupled thereto and comprising a plurality of backplane traces arranged in parallel so as to transfer the data frames between the one or more user interface modules and the communication network, at least one of said backplane traces being bi-directional and operative to communicate in both said upstream direction and said downstream direction; and a control module, which is arranged to select, for each data frame, responsively to at least one of the frame attributes, a backplane trace from the plurality of backplane traces over which to send the data frame. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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30. Apparatus for connecting user ports to a communication network, comprising:
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one or more user interface modules coupled to the user ports, which are arranged to process data frames having frame attributes sent between the user ports and the communication network; a backplane having the one or more user interface modules coupled thereto and comprising a plurality of backplane traces arranged in parallel so as to transfer the data frames between the one or more user interface modules and the communication network; a control module, which is arranged to select, for each data frame, responsively to at least one of the frame attributes, a backplane trace from the plurality of backplane traces over which to send the data frame; at least some of the backplane traces are aggregated into an Ethernet link aggregation (LAG) group.
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Specification