International Business Machines Corporation

Extreme Networks, Inc.

John Kevin Frick

Edward Joel Rovner

Cedell Adam Alexander, Jr

Matthew B Squire

Deepak Vig

Charles Allen Carriker

Donald Bruce Grosser, Jr

John T Lloyd

Jim Philip Ervin

Daniel Dean Heimsoth

Cedell A Alexander

Michael D Mroz

Charles Frederick Burton, Iii

Rosemary Venema Slager

Olen Lee Stokes, Jr

Jackie Jackson, Jr

Marc Jonathan Jacobs

Brian N Bingham

John Edward Dickey

Jon Michael Houghton

Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided herein for implementing a PoE system comprising a plurality of power sourcing equipment that power a single powered device. Control circuitry may determine the power necessary to operate a powered device in a first power mode, and may cause the powered device to draw, from a first power sourcing device, to a first port of the powered device, a first wattage. The powered device may draw, from a second power sourcing device, to a second port of a powered device, a second wattage, where a sum of the first and second wattage equals the amount of power necessary to operate in the first power mode, wherein a first isolation boundary isolates the first power sourcing equipment, the first Ethernet link, and the first port, and wherein a second isolation boundary isolates the second power sourcing equipment, the second Ethernet link, and the second port.

Systems and methods for powering a power-over-ethernet powered device using multiple power-over-ethernet sourcing devices

A method for hitless restart of layerpacket forwarding includes replicating some but not all state information from a master management service module to a slave management service module. The master management service module builds a layerrouting table by participating in layerrouting protocols. The layerrouting table is stored in memory. The master management service module builds a first layerforwarding table and stores the forwarding information in hardware. A slave management service module receives a copy of the first layerforwarding table from the master management service module. When the master management service module fails, the slave management service module initiates construction of a routing table by participating in layerrouting protocols. Packet forwarding is not interrupted because forwarding using hardware entries continues. The slave management service module links entries in the newly constructed routing table to those stored in the forwarding table.

Methods and systems for hitless restart of layer 3 packet forwarding

Methods and systems for providing redundant network connectivity across a network using a tunneling protocol by dynamically moving a TLS tunnel between master and slave switches based on relative connectivity provided by the switches are disclosed. A standby routing protocol executes on the master and slave switches to monitor the relative connectivity. In response to detecting that the relative connectivity of the slave switch exceeds that of the master switch, the standby routing protocol reverses the roles of the master and slave switches, thus moving the TLS tunnel to the new master switch.

Methods and systems for providing redundant connectivity across a network using a tunneling protocol

A method and system for providing enhanced peer redundancy in an ATM emulated local area network (ELAN) served by a primary LAN emulation server (LES), a peer LAN emulation server, a broadcast and unknown server (BUS), and a LAN emulation configuration server (LECS). An enhanced peer redundancy virtual channel connection (VCC) is established between the primary LES/BUS and the peer LES/BUS. The primary LES/BUS and the peer LES/BUS exchange status messages every two seconds indicating the number of assigned LECs. If the primary has fewer LECs than the peer, the primary yields to the peer as the active LES/BUS. If an enhanced redundancy VCC was not established, the backup LES/BUS provides ELAN services while waiting for the primary to call to establish an enhanced redundancy VCC. If an enhanced peer redundancy VCC cannot be established, the primary attempts to establish a redundancy VCC with the peer in which the peer LES/BUS is kept in a dormant mode as long as the redundancy VCC is present. If the redundancy VCC is absent, the peer LES/BUS is activated to service the ELAN.

Method and system for providing peer redundancy to asynchronous transfer mode emulated local-area networks

Provided are a method and system for achieving enhanced performance in communications between a plurality of emulated networks overlaid onto at least one base network, wherein the communications involve one or more source route bridges. The method and system accomplish their objects via the following. Determining when communication is to occur, through the one or more source route bridges, and between at least two entities where a first of the at least two entities is a member of a first emulated network and where a second of the at least two entities is a member of another of the plurality of emulated networks. Informing the at least one of the at least two entities of one or more addresses consonant with the protocols of the at least one base network wherein the one or more addresses identify one or more base network entities closely correspondent to at least one of the at least two entities. And thereafter utilizing the one or more addresses in communication between the first and second entities such that communications between the first and second entities is established in such a fashion that at least one of the one or more source route bridges is bypassed, thereby ensuring that the processing and delay associated with the at least one bypassed source route bridge is avoided wherein the performance in communications involving the at least two emulated networks is enhanced.

Method and system for enhanced communication involving emulated local area networks

A data communication network includes a network client, a network server, and a name caching entity located between the network client and the network server. The network server is coupled to the data communication network by a plurality of network adapters that each have a different network (e.g., Media Access Control (MAC)) address, but share a common logical name. The name caching entity includes a name cache, which stores the common logical name shared by the server's network adapters in association with the network address of one of the network adapters. By reference to the name cache, the name caching entity is able to convert broadcast frames to unicast frames, thereby advantageously reducing broadcast frames in the network. The name caching entity will disassociate the logical name and the network address in the name cache in response to a failure to detect a frame indicating the establishment of a session with the network server within a selected interval of transmission of a frame requesting establishment of a session with the network server. In this manner, the network client can establish a session with the network server through another network adapter in cases in which the network adapter whose network address is stored in the name cache cannot support an additional session.

Method and system for broadcast management in a data communication network that permits namesharing

A method for providing interoperability between multiple versions of LUNI within a mixed Asynchronous Transfer Mode emulated LAN is disclosed. The mixed ATM emulated LAN includes multiple LAN emulated clients (LE clients) having different versions of LAN Emulation User Network Interface (LUNI), such as a first version LUNI and a second version LUNI. The mixed ATM emulated LAN is served by a LAN Emulation Server (LES), a Broadcast and Unknown Server (BUS), and a LAN Emulation Configuration Server (LECS). When an LE Control Frame is being sent by an LE client having a second version LUNI, a determination is made as to whether or not the LE Control Frame will be received by an LE client having a first version LUNI. In response to a determination that the LE Control Frame sent by the LE client having a second version LUNI will be received by an LE client having a first version LUNI, the LE Control Frame is copied, and the copied LE Control Frame is converted to an LE Control Frame with a format that is readable by the LE client having a first version LUNI.

Method and system for providing interoperability between network clients having different versions of local-area network emulation user network interface within an asynchronous transfer mode emulated local-area network

Provided are a method and system for use within at least one network wherein broadcast occurs. The method and system achieve their objects as follows. In response to reception of a data frame with at least one destination indicator ordinarily requiring broadcast to a first defined group of stations, at least one attribute of the received data frame is examined. In response to the step of examining, the received data frame is transmitted to a defined second group of stations, smaller in number than the first group of stations.

Method and system for enhancing communications efficiency in data communications networks wherein broadcast occurs

A method and system for improving communications in data communications networks which provide network emulation. The method and system accomplish their objects via communications equipment adapted to do the following: implant a number of distributed-redundant gateways in an emulated network; and dynamically assign access to operational distributed-redundant gateways. In one embodiment, the network emulation is an Asynchronous Transfer Mode Emulation Local Area Network (ATM ELAN), and the distributed-redundant gateways operate as default Internet Protocol (IP) gateway utilized by LAN Emulation Clients (LE Clients) of the ATM ELAN. Also in one embodiment, the dynamic assignment of access is done such that the data communications loading associated with the default IP gateway is distributed throughout a data communications network.

Method and system for improving communications in data communications

An ATM communications network with several ELANs allows steady-state data to be passed between ATM attached devices which bypasses intermediate LECs and bridges. Connected to the ATM communications network is a bridge unit which includes a bridge and associated LECs. Also, an origination ATM attached device and a destination ATM attached device are attached to the ATM communications network via a first by a first ELAN and a second ELAN, respectively. The origination ATM attached device sends a request for an ATM address associated with the destination ATM attached device to the bridge, via the first ELAN. After some processing, the bridge returns the ATM address associated with the destination ATM attached device to the origination ATM attached device. This allows the origination ATM attached device to establish a shortcut VCC with the destination ATM attached device using the ATM address associated with the destination ATM attached device, thereby bypassing intermediate bridges and LECs.

Short-cut bridging in LAN emulation networks

Provided are a method and system for achieving enhanced performance in communications involving one or more emulated networks overlaid onto at least one base network, where the emulation is performed by one or more network emulation servers-broadcast and unknown servers. The objects of the method and system are achieved via the following. Monitoring addresses of data transiting the one or more network emulation servers-broadcast and unknown servers where such monitored addresses are indicative of one or more functions provided by the one or more emulated networks. Tracking the monitored addresses. Comparing the tracked addresses, indicative of on or more functions provided by the one more emulated networks, with one or more prespecified thresholds indicative of monopolization of resources of the at least one emulated network. And, taking corrective action when the aforementioned comparing of addresses indicates that one or more entities associated with the tracked addresses are monopolizing resources of the at least one emulated network such that communications involving the at least one emulated network are enhanced.

Growing community of inventors

Raleigh, NC, United States of America

John Kevin Frick