Marvell International Limited

Marvellworld Trade Ltd.

Marvell Asia Pte., Ltd.

Hugh Walsh

Fei Wu

Donald Robert Pannell

Biing Long Shu

Dehuan Meng

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a virtual controller area network system includes first, second third controller area network (CAN) buses. A first CAN controller is coupled to the first and second CAN buses and is configured to route messages to and from the first and second CAN buses. A second CAN controller is coupled to the third CAN bus and is configured to route messages to and from the third CAN bus. A network bridging system is configured to route messages over a local area network between the first CAN controller and the second CAN controller.

Virtual controller area network

Embodiments described herein provide a method for an error logging mechanism operated with controller area network (CAN) buses within an Ethernet network. A first interrupt request indicative of a first error condition that occurs at the first CAN bus is received at an Ethernet bridge and from a first CAN controller connected to a first CAN bus. In response to the first interrupt request, the first interrupt request is serviced by retrieving, from a first error register at the first CAN controller, information relating to the first error condition. The information relating to the first error condition is encapsulated in a first frame in compliance with a layer 2 transport protocol for time-sensitive applications. The encapsulated first frame is then sent, via an Ethernet switch, to an error logging device installed at a location remote to the first CAN bus.

Systems and methods for an error logging mechanism at controller area network buses

Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided herein for time-stamping a Controller Area Network ('CAN') bus message. Control circuitry (e.g., of a network bridge) may receive a CAN message, and may, in response to receiving the CAN message, generate a time stamp. The control circuitry may add an entry to a lookup table stored in memory, wherein the entry correlates a CAN message Identifier ('ID') corresponding to the CAN message with the time stamp. The control circuitry may encapsulate the CAN message and the time stamp, and may transmit the CAN message according to the time stamp.

Systems and methods for implementing a time-stamped controller area network (CAN) bus message

Systems and methods are provided for routing a message in a network. A bit length of an identifier field of a received message is identified. A lookup table is selected based on the bit length of the identifier field. The identifier field is used as a reference for the lookup table to identify a bus for the message, and the message is forwarded to the bus.

Control message routing structure for a controller area network

Systems, methods, and apparatuses are described herein for implementing a switched Controller Area Network ('CAN'). In some embodiments, control circuitry of a bridge may receive a CAN message. The control circuitry may identify a first plurality of nodes to which the CAN message is addressed by comparing a virtual CAN bus identifier of the CAN message to entries of a virtual CAN bus lookup table, and may identify a second plurality of nodes to which the CAN message is addressed by comparing a message identifier ('ID') of the CAN message to entries of a message ID lookup table. The control circuitry may perform a logical AND operation between the first plurality of nodes and the second plurality of nodes, and may transmit the CAN message to a node that satisfies the logical AND operation.

Systems and methods for implementing a switched controller area network

A method and apparatus for allocating pointers in a network switch managing a multicast transmission includes receiving a frame in the switch and assigning pointers in an ingress module to buffer the frame, forwarding pointers along with a header including an egress variable indicative of a number of transmissions in the multicast transmission to an egress module for transmission of the frame, forwarding the egress variable after transmission of the frame to a multicast module, monitoring the transmission of the frame based upon the egress variable, and returning pointers to a free list responsive to the monitoring step and a value of the egress variable.

Device and process for efficient multicasting

Aspects of the disclosure provide a method. The method includes receiving a first processed transaction unit output from an egress port of a first design of a switching device. The first processed transaction unit corresponds to a transaction unit that enters the first design by an ingress port. The method further includes extracting a property in the first processed transaction unit, determining the ingress port based on stored property-ingress port association information, identifying a memory element configured to store processed transaction units output from a second design of the switching device based on the ingress port and the egress port, and comparing the first processed transaction unit with a second processed transaction unit from the memory element.

Method and system for verification

A network switch including a port receiving a first frame. A memory includes first buffers available to store frames and second buffers reserved for the port. A pointer module stores first pointers for the first buffers. A reserve module includes a counter, requests from the pointer module some of the first pointers, and increments the counter to count a number of pointers reserved for the first port. The pointers received from the pointer module are deemed reserved and as a result the first buffers, pointed to by the pointers received from the pointer module, are included in the second buffers. An ingress module stores the first frame in some of the second buffers and determines a destination channel for the first frame. The counter is incremented for each of the second buffers used to store the first frame. An egress module transmits the frame on the destination channel.

Apparatus and method for allocating buffers of a memory including tracking a number of buffers used to store a received frame

A network switch including a plurality of ports; a memory, and a queue controller. The queue controller is configured to: maintain a list of pointers to a first plurality of buffers in the memory; of the first plurality of buffers, selectively allocate a first buffer to a first port of the plurality of ports; in response to i) the first port receiving a first frame of data, ii) the first buffer being allocated to the first port, and iii) the first frame being stored in the memory, remove the pointer to the first buffer from the list of pointers; transfer, to an output queue associated with a second port of the plurality of ports, the pointer to the first buffer; and in response to the first frame of data being sent from the second port, add the pointer to the first buffer back to the list of pointers.

Apparatus and method for dynamically limiting output queue size in a quality of service network

A network switch including a first port, a forwarding module, and a queue controller. The first port is configured to receive i) a first frame of data transmitted to the network switch over a first communication channel, and ii) store the first frame of data in a memory. The forwarding module is configured to assign the first frame of data to a second port for transmission from the network switch over a second communication channel. The queue controller is configured to store a first count of a number of buffers of the memory used by the first port. The queue controller is configured to increment the first count i) based on the number of the buffers used to store at least a portion of the first frame of data, or ii) each time one of the buffers is enqueued for at least a portion of the first frame of data.

Network switch having virtual input queues for flow control

A device and method of allocating pointers in a network switch includes allocating the first predetermined number of free pointers from a free list to a first in first out memory, allocating the second predetermined number of pointers to a linked list after the first predetermined number of pointers for the first in first out memory has been allocated, receiving a frame in the network switch, forwarding at least one pointer from the first in first out memory to an ingress module to buffer the frame, and forwarding pointers from the linked list to the first in first out memory to an ingress module to buffer the frame.

Flexible queue controller reserve list

A method for sending a frame of data from a first channel to a second channel comprises reserving q of n available buffers of m total buffers to the first channel. A frame that is received from the first channel in i of the q buffers is stored and the status is changed to unavailable. The frame is selectively assigned to the second channel based on a number of the buffers j assigned to the second channel and a number of the buffers h neither reserved nor assigned to any channel, wherein i+j&#x2266;m and h+q&#x2266;n. The i buffers storing the frame are assigned to the second channel if the frame is assigned to the second channel. The status of the i buffers is changed to available if the frame is subsequently sent over the second channel.

Growing community of inventors

Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Hugh Walsh