Marvell Israel (misl) Ltd.

Marvell International Limited

Ehud Sivan

Carmi Arad

Tsahi Daniel

Tal Mizrahi

David Melman

Martin Leslie White

Evgeny Shumsky

Yoram Revah

Gil Levy

Youval Nachum

Amit Avivi

Uri Safrai

In a method for storing packets in a network device, a processor and a plurality of memory banks for storing packet data during processing of packets by the processor are provided on an integrated circuit device. Each memory bank has a separate channel for transferring data. A plurality of buffers are defined such that each buffer in the plurality of buffers includes a respective memory space in more than one memory bank and less than all memory banks. A buffer of the plurality of buffers is allocated for storing a single packet or a portion of a single packet. The single packet or the portion of the single packet in the allocated buffer.

Scalable high bandwidth memory in a network device

In a modular switching device that includes a plurality of packet processors interconnected by a plurality of connecting devices, one or more data packets are received at a first packet processor. The first packet processor generates a communication frame that includes at least a portion of a first data packet among the one or more data packets. The first packet processor divides the communication frame into a plurality of transmission units, includes a communication frame identifier in respective transmission units, and includes a respective position identifier in respective transmission units. The transmission units are transmitted to the plurality of connecting devices via a first plurality of uplinks, and the plurality of connecting devices transmits the transmission units to the second packet processor via a second plurality of uplinks. The communication frame is reassembled from the plurality of transmission units using the communication frame identifier and the position identifiers.

Traffic spraying in a chassis-based network switch

A packet is received at a network device, the packet having a header that includes destination information for a first network in a first header portion, and destination information for a second network in a second header portion. The packet is processed, in a first pass, to make a first forwarding decision to forward the packet to a destination in the first network based on information contained in the first header portion. The packet is replicated and the packet, or the replicated packet, is returned for processing in a second pass. The packet, or the replicated packet, is processed in the second pass to make a second forwarding decision to forward at least a portion of the packet or the replicated packet to a destination in the second network based on information contained in the second header portion without relying on information contained in the first header portion.

Methods and apparatus for processing multi-headed packets

Techniques for processing packets in a network device include using a configuration table to determine a key corresponding to a packet. The configuration table may be indexed based on contents of a field of the packet (e.g., e/port or e/VLAN) to find a corresponding entry indicating a key format. When a key extension indicator has a first pre-determined value, a key extension field is added to the key format, and when the key extension indicator has a second pre-determined value, the key extension indicator is excluded from the key format. The populated key format or key (including any key extension field, if so determined) is used to determine a processing action for the packet. Key extension indicators support compatibility with non-legacy devices that utilize extended fields in packets, and with legacy devices. Embodiments of methods and network devices that support standard and extended keys are disclosed.

Extended policy control list keys having backwards compatibility

An embodiment of a network device includes a plurality of switch cores and a plurality of ports for receiving and transmitting data frames on a network disposed on a single integrated circuit, where switch core is coupled to a subset of the plurality of ports. The network device includes a deactivator configured to selectively deactivate at least a portion of one or more switch cores among the plurality of switch cores on the single integrated circuit, and the network device is configured to forward data frames among the plurality of ports based on a configuration of active portions of the plurality of switch cores. The deactivated portions may include ingress processing pipelines, egress processing pipelines, and/or entire switch cores. The portions of the switch cores to be deactivated may be dynamically be determined based on connectors of the integrated circuit.

Multiple core network device with core redundancy

A method for processing network traffic in a modular switching device that includes a source device, a target device, and a plurality of connecting devices, includes generating a communication unit at the source device, where the communication unit is associated with a unique communication unit identifier, and where the communication unit is to be transmitted to the target device; dividing the communication unit into a plurality of transmission units, including assigning a respective position identifier to each of the plurality of transmission units, where the position identifier is indicative of a position of the transmission unit within the communication unit, and assigning the communication unit identifier to each of the plurality of transmission units; the method further comprising causing the plurality of transmission units to be transmitted in parallel to respective ones of the plurality of connecting devices, where each of the plurality of connecting devices connects the source device to the target device.

Aspects of the disclosure provide an arbitration system for scheduling access of a plurality of clients to a shared resource. The arbitration system includes a plurality of association circuits corresponding to a plurality of profiles, a plurality of trigger circuits respectively coupled to the plurality of association circuits, and a selection circuitry. Each association circuit is configured to associate clients with the corresponding profile based on client attributes. Each trigger circuit is configured to periodically generate triggers at a rate based on the corresponding profile of the coupled association circuit, and each trigger causes the associated clients of the corresponding profile to be placed on a list of eligible clients. The selection circuitry is configured to select, for a time slice in a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) frame, a client from the list of eligible clients using an arbitration scheme for accessing the shared resource.

Adjustable time division multiplexing (ATDM) arbitration methods and systems

A packet is received from a network via an ingress port, wherein the packet includes at least first and second headers. A first set of one or more egress ports via which the packet is to be forwarded is determined based on one of the first header or the second header, and the packet is forwarded to the first set of one or more egress ports. At least a subset of the packet is forwarded to an upstream location in a packet processing pipeline, and a second set of one or more egress ports via which the at least a portion of the packet is to be forwarded is determined in response to forwarding the at least the subset of the packet to the upstream location in the packet processing pipeline and based on at least one of the first header or the second header. The at least the portion of the packet is forwarded to the second set of one or more egress ports.

Growing community of inventors

Zichron Yaakov, Israel

Ehud Sivan