Data center using wireless communication

• US 9,391,716 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2010
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Shin, Ji Yong, Kirovski, Darko, Harper, David T. III
• Primary Examiner(s): ZUNIGA ABAD, JACKIE
• Application Number:
  US12/753,913
• Publication Number:
  US 20110243074A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,290 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1149 Arrangements for indoor wireless networking of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/803 Free space interconnects, e.g. between circuit boards or chips
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6402 Hybrid switching fabrics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/50 Queue scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 Routing or path finding in a switch fabric

Abstract

A data center includes a plurality of computing units that communicate with each other using wireless communication, such as high frequency RF wireless communication. The data center may organize the computing units into groups (e.g., racks). In one implementation, each group may form a three-dimensional structure, such as a column having a free-space region for accommodating intra-group communication among computing units. The data center can include a number of features to facilitate communication, including dual-use memory for handling computing and buffering tasks, failsafe routing mechanisms, provisions to address permanent interface and hidden terminal scenarios, etc.

Claims

1. A data center using directional radio frequency (RF) communication, the data center comprising:

multiple computing units configured to form a switching fabric, the multiple computing units comprising;

housings configured to physically combine with housings of other computing units to form racks having inner free-space regions;

processing resources configured to perform a computing function;

memory resources configured to store data;

intra-rack wireless RF communication elements configured to form directionally-focused RF beams focused through the inner free-space regions on other computing units within a given rack;

inter-rack wireless RF communication elements configured to form other directionally-focused RF beams focused on other computing units within other racks; and

switching resources configured to couple together the processing resources, the memory resources, the intra-rack wireless RF communication elements, and the inter-rack wireless RF communication elements,

wherein the switching fabric is configured to route the data through a first one of the racks to a second one of the racks.

2. The data center of claim 1, wherein individual computing units are configured to apply a media access control protocol to address a hidden terminal phenomenon within the data center.

3. The data center of claim 2, wherein the media access control protocol comprises at least one of time division multiple access, frequency division multiple access, or code division multiple access.

4. The data center of claim 1, wherein the racks are cylindrical.

5. The data center of claim 4, wherein the housings are wedge-shaped.

6. The data center of claim 4, wherein the cylindrical racks include plural vertical layers of the multiple computing units.

7. The data center of claim 1, wherein the switching fabric is configured to use a cut-through routing strategy.

8. The data center of claim 1, wherein the data includes control data and payload data and the switching fabric is configured to use a first subset of the multiple computing units for transmitting the payload data in a first direction and a second subset of the multiple computing units for transmitting the payload data in a second direction.

9. The data center of claim 8, wherein the switching fabric is configured to select a ratio of time slots for the control data to other time slots for the payload data, the ratio being selected to provide a target latency-related and capacity-related performance.

10. A switching fabric comprising:

multiple computing units configured to collectively form racks of computing units having inner free-space regions,

wherein individual computing units comprise;

processing resources configured to perform a computing function;

memory resources configured to store data, wherein the individual computing units are configured to use at least part of the memory resources as buffers for temporarily storing payload data when acting as intermediary computing units of the switching fabric;

a first wireless radio frequency (RF) communication element configured to form a first directionally-focused wireless RF beam to communicate the data through the inner free-space region of an individual rack to another computing unit of the switching fabric in the individual rack; and

a second wireless RF communication element configured to form a second directionally-focused wireless RF beam to communicate the data with a further computing unit of the switching fabric that is in a different individual rack.

11. A computing unit comprising:

one or more processing resources configured to perform a computing function;

one or more memory resources configured to store data;

at least two wireless radio frequency (RF) communication elements configured to form at least two corresponding directionally-focused RF beams, the at least two wireless RF communication elements including;

a first wireless RF element configured to form a first wireless RF beam focused on a first other computing unit that shares a rack with the computing unit to communicate the data through an inner free-space region of the rack, and

a second wireless RF element configured to form a second wireless RF beam focused on a second other computing unit in a different rack than the computing unit; and

switching resources configured to couple together the processing resources, the memory resources, and the at least two wireless RF communication elements.

12. The computing unit of claim 11, further comprising:

a detection mechanism configured to use at least one test signal to determine whether placement of the computing unit causes permanent interference.

13. The computing unit of claim 12, wherein the detection mechanism is further configured to detect whether the placement of the computing unit causes the permanent interference among two or more other computing units that are already placed.

14. The computing unit of claim 13, further comprising:

an alarm mechanism configured to alert a user when the permanent interference exists.

15. A switching fabric comprising the computing unit of claim 11, the first other computing unit, and the second other computing unit and at least one other computing unit.

16. The computing unit of claim 11, further comprising:

a routing table configured to convey connectivity information of the computing unit within a switching fabric, the routing table indicating that the first other computing unit and the second other computing unit are neighbors of the computing unit within the switching fabric.

17. The computing unit of claim 16, wherein the routing table identifies non-neighboring computing units of the switching fabric that are not neighbors of the computing unit.

18. The computing unit of claim 17, wherein the switching resources are configured to:

route the data through the switching fabric to an individual non-neighboring computing unit via the computing unit and the first other computing unit that shares the rack with the computing unit.

19. The computing unit of claim 17, wherein the switching resources are configured to:

route the data through the switching fabric to an individual non-neighboring computing unit via the computing unit and the second other computing unit that is in the different rack than the computing unit.

20. The computing unit of claim 11, wherein the first wireless RF beam is focused in a direction that is generally opposite the second wireless RF beam.