Alcatel

Rex Hill

John W Bailey

Bryan J Dietz

Dante Cinco

A method and apparatus provides QoS shaping/provisioning scheme for a data communications switch, such as a DiffServ aware router or a 802.1Q aware bridge, in which distinct internal and outbound priority values are assigned to a packet based on flow properties associated with an inbound packet. The flow properties used to assign the internal and outbound priority values may include at least one value from a packet field that is not dedicated to defining QoS. The internal priority value provides a priority to the packet during processing in the switch. The outbound priority value is applied to the packet in lieu of the inbound priority value prior to transmitting the packet from the switch. The flow properties used to determine the internal and outbound priority values may include, for example, Layer 2, Layer 3, and Layer 4 information encoded in the packet.

QoS shaping/provisioning for data communication switch

Lookup scheme in which a tuple representing a plurality of flow properties is parsed into multiple subtuples for application in recursive lookups. A first subtuple including a first subset of bits from the tuple is applied to the flow information database and returns a result including a nickname having a smaller bit count than the first subtuple. A second subtuple including a second subset of bits from the tuple and the nickname are combined and applied to the flow information database. The lookups continue until a result indicates that no recursion is required. The final lookup result includes flow information applicable to one or more of modifying, enqueuing or forwarding the packet. A truncated lookup capability enables common processing across a group of distinct flows having common flow properties.

Tuple-based lookup scheme for packet switching node

A method and apparatus for accomplishing source learning in a data switch of the type having a plurality of switching modules where each supports one or more external network devices and a backplane interconnecting the switching modules. Each switching module has logic resident thereon for performing distributed source learning, including configuring unknown source addresses 'seen' in inbound packets and for notifying the other switching modules that such source addresses were 'seen' on a port thereof. Address-port associations are thereby configured on the switch using distributed logic, i.e. without intervention by a centralized management entity. In regard to configuring destination addresses&#x2014;when a destination address is unknown, packets are delivered over a multicast queue until the destination address is found. Once the destination address is found, a method of flow integrity is used to avoid out of order packet delivery when the device transitions from using a multicast flood queue to a unicast queue.

Distributed source learning for data communication switch

A stage-implemented QoS shaping scheme is provided for a data communication switch. The stage-implemented QoS shaping scheme may be implemented by augmenting an existing packet forwarding logic. Inbound packets or other input signals enter the switch with inbound QoS or priority information. The inbound QoS information and packet header data are used by the switch to determine internal and outbound QoS information in stages. The first stage receives a key including addressing and other information and determines a QoS shaping index. In the second stage, the QoS shaping index is used to select QoS shaping maps, and the inbound QoS information is mapped to the QoS shaping maps to select internal and outbound QoS information.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

Rex Hill