Alcatel Canada Inc.

Newbridge Networks Corporation

Solace Systems, Inc.

Alcatel-lucent Canada Inc.

Charles Mitchell

Steve Driediger

John Stephan Gryba

Henry Chow

Michael Gassewitz

Germain Bisson

Jim Ghadbane

Steve Bews

Jonathan L Bosloy

Natalie Giroux

Tom Edward Davis

Shawn P McAllister

Edward D Funnekotter

Denny L Lee

Paul Kondrat

Scott Drennan

Jason Whelan

James Moser

Amro A Younes

Tara Janke

Tom Davis

A networking appliance includes a chassis, an off-the-shelf motherboard mounted on said chassis, said motherboard including at least one expansion bus, one or more separately removable expansion module mounted on said chassis, and a number of card slots in the expansion module for accommodating expansion cards. A connection arrangement provides a signal connection between the card slots in the expansion modules and the expansion buses.

Serviceable networking appliance chassis

A method of matching subscriptions to published documents in a content-routed network involves receiving subscription information, receiving published documents, storing the subscription information and the published documents in memory, instructing an accelerator of the locations in memory of the published documents, transferring portions of the stored published documents from the memory to the accelerator on an as-needed basis, providing the subscription information to the accelerator, and processing the portions in the accelerator to perform subscription matching in the accelerator independently of other functions in the content-router. The accelerator preferably includes a pipeline. In this way, efficiently highly scalable subscription matching can be performed efficiently on a very large number of subscriptions.

Highly scalable subscription matching for a content routing network

A system for implementing time stamp related features in a real time stamp distribution system is discussed. The distribution system derives a real time stamp (RTS) at a master timekeeping network element and distributes the RTS to associated network elements by way of a number of distribution techniques. Under certain network conditions, the real time stamp may not reach one or more of the network elements at the valid real time. In the present system, the network elements are able to derive a local time based on timing information recorded at the network element. Thus the system can detect an error in the time stamp delivered to a network element and can correct the time stamp utilizing a local time stamp feature.

Feature implementation in a real time stamp distribution system

The method for the non-disruptive monitoring of a packet flow from a target point (e.g., a specific port/VPI/VCI) to a counterpart point in a packet switch having one or more interface devices, connected to an internal bus, for servicing the target point, the counterpart point and a monitor test access connection (TAC) point comprises the steps of: (a) configuring the device servicing the TAC point to retrieve from the bus packets addressed thereto which use a multicast addressing scheme for routing packets from the target point to the counterpart point and from the target point to the monitor TAC point; (b) configuring the device servicing the counterpart point to additionally retrieve the multicast packets from the bus; and (c) configuring the device servicing the target point to address packets received thereat to the counterpart point and the monitor TAC point using the multicast address scheme only after step (b) is completed.

Non-disruptive monitoring of traffic flows in a connection-orientated packet network

A system and method for managing high speed traffic though switching elements in a digital network such as an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. The system applies in particular to available bit rate (ABR) and unspecified bit rate (UBR) categories of service in an ATM network. ABR traffic incorporates resource management cells (RM) in a feed back loop from destination to source for the purpose of carrying explicit rate (ER) congestion control information. Lookup tables are provided in order to quickly provide ER information to the RM cells. UBR traffic is subject to cell discard in the event of congestion. Lookup tables are provided in order to fairly apply an early packet discard (EPD) algorithm.

High speed traffic management control using lookup tables

A real time stamp distribution system for multi-element/multi-processor networks. A master network element derives a real time stamp (RTS) from a source and distributes the RTS to the remaining network elements. A combination of distribution methods are discussed including a dedicated hardware connection, hardware and software messaging and a method wherein a high precision stamp is derived from an oscillator located on each network element. In one embodiment the system has a drift adjustment feature to compensate for a system time stamp drift relative to the real time. Redundancy can be provided by employing multiple master timekeeper elements. The RTS in one application has three timing components; a high precision portion; an intermediate precision portion and a low precision portion. The intermediate portion can be implemented using shifter based counters such as a linear feedback shift register. Pulse width modulated encoding and decoding can be used to transport the intermediate real time stamp from the master timekeepers to the other network elements in the system.

Real time stamp distribution

In an N&times;N packet switch, for example an ATM switch, multicast connections receive backpressure signals from congested output ports in the switch core. The cells in the connections are destination address modified not to send to the congested output port, but to continue sending to the other output ports in the connection. The multicast cells may include a user selected primary route identification and be queued in a unicast input queue for the primary route before being destination address modified. Destination address modification for congestion may be accompanied by partial packet discard, through destination address modification of the remaining cells forming part of a multiple cell packet to remove the destination address for the congested port (whether or not it is now congested) where one of the multiple destination addresses of one of the cells in the packet has been modified to remove the destination address of the congested output port. Destination address modification for congestion, without or without partial packet discard, may be accompanied by hybrid head of line blocking performed by not sending from a multicast queue if an output port on one of the multicast leafs is congested and the input queue size is below a given threshold, and sending with destination address modification and optional partial packet discard if the queue size is above the threshold.

Multicast methodology and apparatus for backpressure-based switching fabric

In a method of establishing communication over a network a number of nodes are interconnected in a ring architecture. Virtual connections are set up on a pair of counter-rotating packet-based rings to interconnect the nodes. At each node packets destined for that node are extracted from the rings, outgoing packets are added to the rings, and packets on each ring not destined for that each node pass directly through. This arrangement establishes a virtual mesh structure between the nodes. Either each node transmits packets on both rings or receives packets from both rings. In the case where each node transmits packets on both rings the node selects one of the rings from which to receive packets in the absence of a fault, selects the fault-free ring from which to receive packets if only one of the rings has a fault, and selects both rings from which to receive packets if both rings have faults. In the case where each node receives packets from both rings the node selects one of the rings on which to transmit packets dependent on the destination of the transmitted packets in the absence of a fault, and in the presence of a fault the node alters its transmitting behavior to broadcast packets on both rings.

ATM network with ring architecture

A communication system is provided for transmitting and receiving data cells containing control messaging and customer data, including a real-time development system (RDS) and means for generating a plurality of RDS events and RDS commands at predetermined locations within the communication system. Each of the RDS events having an event identifier and a variable length sequence of data bytes for defining the event. Each of the RDS commands having a command identifier and a variable length identifier for defining the command. The communication system also includes means for transmitting the RDS events and RDS commands as data cells throughout the communication system via identical communication links. The communication system also having means located throughout the communication system for selectively filtering the RDS events and RDS commands from the control messaging data and customer data. The communication system further includes means located throughout the communication system for displaying the RDS events which have been filtered for real-time diagnostics as well as means for supporting source and assembly level debug operations using the RDS commands and RDS events.

Communications system for receiving and transmitting data cells

A communication system is disclosed having a hub slot adapted to receive any one of a plurality of hub cards for receiving and transmitting data cells; a plurality of universal card slots; a plurality of interface cards insertable into any one of said plurality of universal card slots for receiving incoming ones of said data cells containing data and transmitting outgoing ones of said data cells containing data; an add bus having respective data links connected between individual ones of said universal card slots and said hub slot for receiving said outgoing ones of said data cells from said plurality of interface cards and transmitting said outgoing ones of said data cells to said hub slot; a drop bus having a single data link connected between all of said universal card slots and said hub slot for transmitting said incoming ones of said data cells from said hub slot to said plurality of interface cards; and means within each of said interface cards for filtering said incoming ones of said data cells from said drop bus and thereby routing said data cells to an appropriate one or more of said plurality of interface cards.

Growing community of inventors

Nepean, Canada

Charles Mitchell