Modified ethernet preamble for inter line card communications in a modular communication chassis
First Claim
1. A method of providing information regarding an Ethernet frame, within an Ethernet preamble of the Ethernet frame, said method comprising:
- inserting into the Ethernet preamble an inter-line-card header that includes at least one information element selected from the group consisting of a start control character, a version number, a parity bit, a source port, a destination port, and a forwarding domain entry; and
preserving said inter-line-card header, inside of said Ethernet preamble, in a Media Access Control (MAC) sub-layer in said Ethernet frame, to create a modified Ethernet preamble.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of providing information regarding an Ethernet frame, within the Ethernet preamble of the Ethernet frame, comprises inserting into the Ethernet preamble an inter-line-card header that includes a start control character, a version number, a parity bit, a source port, a destination port, and a forwarding domain entry; and preserving said inter-line-card header, inside of said Ethernet preamble, in a Media Access Control (MAC) sub-layer in said Ethernet frame. The method may include a step of selecting the decoding format for the inter-line-card header corresponding to the version number and/or forwarding other Ethernet frames according to additional forwarding information provided by the forwarding domain entry. The inter-line-card header may be preserved in the MAC sub-layer by keeping the Ethernet preamble at the beginning of an Ethernet frame received over an Ethernet backplane, and passing the combined preamble and associated Ethernet frame to an inter-line-card header processing module.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A method of providing information regarding an Ethernet frame, within an Ethernet preamble of the Ethernet frame, said method comprising:
-
inserting into the Ethernet preamble an inter-line-card header that includes at least one information element selected from the group consisting of a start control character, a version number, a parity bit, a source port, a destination port, and a forwarding domain entry; and preserving said inter-line-card header, inside of said Ethernet preamble, in a Media Access Control (MAC) sub-layer in said Ethernet frame, to create a modified Ethernet preamble. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of providing information regarding an Ethernet frame comprising
modifying an Ethernet preamble comprised in the Ethernet frame to include an inter-line-card header that comprises at least one information element selected from the group consisting of a start control character, a version number, a parity bit, a source port, a destination port, and a forwarding domain entry, preserving said inter-line-card header, inside of said modified Ethernet preamble, in a Media Access Control (MAC) sub-layer in said Ethernet frame, and wherein said inter-line-card header further includes an action and action parameters.
Specification