Cisco Technology, Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Necdet Uzun

Mete Yilmaz

Jung-Hong Kao

Earl T Cohen

James Alexander Markevitch

Mike Takefman

Systems, methods, devices and techniques can be used in networks including resilient packet ring networks and other types of ring topology networks to adjust the flow of data traffic to MAC clients associated with stations on the network. In one example, adjusted fairness rates and/or messages associated with a network communication protocol are used to reduce traffic destined for a particular station and/or a MAC client associated with that station. In another example, station MAC clients or other components implement virtual destination queues and transmit information associated with the rate at which they receive data. The information and queues are used to reduce traffic destined for a particular station and/or a MAC client associated with that station.

Systems and methods for alleviating client over-subscription in ring networks

The invention provides a method of encoding a data packet for encapsulation in one or more frames for communication from a transmitter to a receiver in a network interface. The method includes dividing the data packet into one or more data chunks and determining the length of a data chunk as the lesser of the number of bytes available in a current frame, the number of bytes remaining in the data packet, or a predetermined number of bytes. The method includes determining if the data chunk is the end-of-the-packet (EOP) and when the data chunk is not the EOP, the method includes prepending the data chunk with a control character representing the length of the data chunk and non-EOP.

Method of encoding a data packet

A system and apparatus for transmitting transit data through a network with first and a second rings coupling two or more nodes. In one aspect, when the first ring is intact and the second ring has a fault between two nodes, transit data may be wrapped from a second, faulted ring to a first, intact ring at an upstream node adjacent to a fault, and transit data may be maintained on the first, intact ring between the upstream node and a downstream node adjacent to the fault. In another aspect, when the system has a fault between any two nodes, the system may preserve host data.

Fault tolerant network traffic management

A method and apparatus for adding a node to a network where the network includes a plurality of nodes connected by first and second rings formed by two or more transmission media. The method includes connecting the node to each of the first and second rings, determining a ring identifier for each of the first and second rings coupled to the node after connection, discovering topology information for the network including the identity of each node coupled to each ring, storing the topology information and determining routing decisions for one or more packets received at the node along each of the first and second rings using the ring identifier information.

Plug and play node addition in a dual ring topology network using discovered topology information for determining routing decisions

A method and apparatus for servicing transit and transmit traffic in a node of a network. The network includes a plurality of nodes connected by first and second rings formed by two or more transmission media. The method includes receiving usage data from a downstream node, identifying a first weighted value associated with a provisioning rate associated with the downstream node and a second weighted value associated with a provisioning rate of the node, determining an allowed usage for the node using the usage data and the first and second weighted values and servicing transmit and transit traffic received at the node including limiting the servicing of the transmit traffic in accordance with the determined allowed usage.

System using weighted fairness decisions in spatial reuse protocol forwarding block to determine allowed usage for servicing transmit and transit traffic in a node

System using fairness logic for mediating between traffic associated with transit and transmit buffers based on threshold values of transit buffer

A method and apparatus for servicing transmit traffic in a node of a network where the network includes a plurality of nodes connected by first and second rings formed by two or more transmission media. The method includes receiving transit delay data associated with a plurality of downstream nodes, receiving a packet for routing to a destination node in the network and routing the packet to one of the first and second rings not only based on a shortest path to the destination node but also on a transmit latency for both the first and second rings in view of the received transit delay data.

Dynamic load balancing for dual ring topology networks

Plug and play node addition in a dual ring topology network using locally significant ring identifiers for determining routing decisions

A method and apparatus for realizing a content addressable memory. The content addressable memory including an associative memory portion including N entries, each entry including a key and an M-bit type indicator. The content addressable memory further including a random access memory portion. The random access memory portion includes K*N entries where a single key stored as an entry in the associative memory portion is mapped to K entries in the random access memory portion, where K is greater than 1.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Necdet Uzun