Methods and apparatus for network congestion control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a frame having a source identifier field corresponding to a source node and a destination identifier field corresponding to a destination node, the frame having been transmitted to a fibre channel network switch through a plurality of switches including a first intermediate switch between the network switch and the source node;
characterizing traffic flow at the network switch, wherein characterizing traffic flow comprises determining an amount of congestion control needed in a fibre channel fabric, wherein if a moderate amount of congestion control is needed, a first instruction is generated and if a significant amount of congestion control is needed, a second instruction is generated; and
wherein the first instruction, having a source identifier field corresponding to the destination node and a destination identifier field corresponding to the source node, reduces transmissions only at the first intermediate switch and the second instruction reduces transmissions at a plurality of switches including the first intermediate switch.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for controlling congestion in a network such as a fibre channel network. Techniques are provided for characterizing traffic flow at a congested network node. The congested network node can generate various instructions such as quench messages to control traffic flow towards the congested network node. The quench messages can optionally include information about the characteristics of the congestion. The instructions are distributed to other nodes in the network. The other network nodes can interpret the instructions and control traffic flow towards the congested node.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
receiving a frame having a source identifier field corresponding to a source node and a destination identifier field corresponding to a destination node, the frame having been transmitted to a fibre channel network switch through a plurality of switches including a first intermediate switch between the network switch and the source node; characterizing traffic flow at the network switch, wherein characterizing traffic flow comprises determining an amount of congestion control needed in a fibre channel fabric, wherein if a moderate amount of congestion control is needed, a first instruction is generated and if a significant amount of congestion control is needed, a second instruction is generated; and wherein the first instruction, having a source identifier field corresponding to the destination node and a destination identifier field corresponding to the source node, reduces transmissions only at the first intermediate switch and the second instruction reduces transmissions at a plurality of switches including the first intermediate switch. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. An apparatus, comprising:
-
means for receiving a frame having a source identifier field corresponding to a source node and a destination identifier field corresponding to a destination node, the frame having been transmitted to a fibre channel network switch through a plurality of switches including a first intermediate switch between the network switch and the source node; means for characterizing traffic flow at the network switch, wherein characterizing traffic flow comprises determining an amount of congestion control needed in a fibre channel fabric, wherein if a moderate amount of congestion control is needed, a first instruction is generated and if a significant amount of congestion control is needed, a second instruction is generated; and wherein the first instruction, having a source identifier field corresponding to the destination node and a destination identifier field corresponding to the source node, reduces transmissions at the first intermediate switch and the second instruction reduces transmissions at a plurality of switches including the first intermediate switch. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A computer readable medium having computer code embodied therein, the computer readable medium comprising:
-
computer code for receiving a frame having a source identifier field corresponding to a source node and a destination identifier field corresponding to a destination node, the frame having been transmitted to a fibre channel network switch through a plurality of switches including a first intermediate switch between the network switch and the source node; computer code for characterizing traffic flow at the network switch, wherein characterizing traffic flow comprises determining an amount of congestion control needed in a fibre channel fabric, wherein if a moderate amount of congestion control is needed, a first instruction is generated and if a significant amount of congestion control is needed, a second instruction is generated; and wherein the first instruction, having a source identifier field corresponding to the destination node and a destination identifier field corresponding to the source node, reduces transmissions at the first intermediate switch and the second instruction reduces transmissions at a plurality of switches including the first intermediate switch. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
-
-
26. A system, comprising:
-
an interface operable to receive a fibre channel frame from a source node, the frame transmitted through a plurality of fibre channel switches including an edge switch connected to the source node; a processor operable to characterize traffic flow and determine buffers levels at the interface, wherein buffer levels exceeding a high threshold triggers the generation of a path quench frame that is sent to the plurality of fibre channel switches including the edge switch to limit traffic flow to the interface and wherein buffer levels between a low threshold and a high threshold triggers the generation of an edge quench frame that is sent to the edge switch to reduce traffic flow to the interface from the edge switch, wherein the edge quench frame has a source identifier field corresponding to the system and a destination identifier field corresponding to the source node. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
-
Specification