Pipelined packet switching and queuing architecture
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a switch fabric line card comprising;
one or more network interfaces, whereineach of the one or more network interfaces comprises one or more ports, andeach of the one or more network interfaces is configured to receive network packets from a corresponding network, and prioritize each network packet with a priority level;
a buffer memory coupled to the one or more network interfaces, whereinthe buffer memory comprises a plurality of queues configured to store the network packets, andfor each priority level, each of the one or more ports has a corresponding queue of the plurality of queues; and
a scheduler coupled to the buffer memory wherein the scheduler is configured to select a selected queue of the plurality of queues, whereinthe selected queue has a highest associated priority level of any queue comprising a stored network packet, andthe selected queue is selected due to the selected queue having the highest associated priority level, andtransmit a network packet stored in the selected queue to a packet processor of the switch fabric line card, whereinthe processor is configured to process the network packet due to the selection of the selected queue; and
a switch fabric coupled to the switch fabric line card.
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Abstract
An architecture for a line card in a network routing device is provided. The line card architecture provides a bi-directional interface between the routing device and a network, both receiving packets from the network and transmitting the packets to the network through one or more connecting ports of a network interface. A high priority buffer and a low priority buffer can be assigned to each port of the network interface. The network interface can perform packet prioritization through buffer selection based on priority. High priority packets will be transmitted to an ingress packet processor before low priority packets for a given port.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a switch fabric line card comprising; one or more network interfaces, wherein each of the one or more network interfaces comprises one or more ports, and each of the one or more network interfaces is configured to receive network packets from a corresponding network, and prioritize each network packet with a priority level; a buffer memory coupled to the one or more network interfaces, wherein the buffer memory comprises a plurality of queues configured to store the network packets, and for each priority level, each of the one or more ports has a corresponding queue of the plurality of queues; and a scheduler coupled to the buffer memory wherein the scheduler is configured to select a selected queue of the plurality of queues, wherein the selected queue has a highest associated priority level of any queue comprising a stored network packet, and the selected queue is selected due to the selected queue having the highest associated priority level, and transmit a network packet stored in the selected queue to a packet processor of the switch fabric line card, wherein the processor is configured to process the network packet due to the selection of the selected queue; and a switch fabric coupled to the switch fabric line card. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus comprising:
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a switch fabric line card comprising; one or more network ports; a packet processor; means for receiving a network packet from an ingress port of the one or more ports; means for prioritizing the network packet with a determined priority level of a plurality of priority levels; means for storing the network packet, wherein the means for storing is associated with both the ingress port and the determined priority level, and for each of the plurality of priority levels, each of the one or more ports has an associated means for storing; means for selecting a selected means for storing, wherein the selected means for storing has a highest priority level of any associated means for storing that comprises a stored network packet, and the selected means is selected due to the selected means having the highest associated priority level; and means for transmitting to the packet processor a network packet stored in the selected means for storing due to the selection of the selected means; and a switch fabric coupled to the switch fabric line card. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method comprising:
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receiving a network packet on an ingress port of a switch fabric line card, wherein a plurality of ports comprises the ingress port; assigning a priority level to the network packet; storing the network packet in association with an identification of the ingress port and the priority level; selecting a selected network packet of a plurality of stored network packets, wherein the selected network packet has a highest assigned priority level of priority levels assigned to each of the plurality of stored network packets, and said selecting is performed due to the selected network packet having the highest assigned priority level; and transmitting the selected network packet to a packet processor of the switch fabric line card due to said selecting, wherein the assigning, storing, selecting, and transmitting are performed by the switch fabric line card, and the switch fabric line card is coupled to a switch fabric. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification