Digital Equipment Corporation

Shirish S Sathaye

Henry S Yang

William R Hawe

Simoni Ben-Michael

Michael Ben-Nun

Moshe De-Leon

Brendan Hannigan

The invention improves the efficiency of buffer descriptor processing by performing descriptor prefetches, where multiple descriptors are read within the same descriptor bus transaction. The invention reads multiple buffer descriptors each time the bus is accessed. This allows for a smaller FIFO in a cut-through network adapter because it reduces the number of bus transactions needed to transfer data.

Buffer descriptor prefetch in network and I/O design

The apparatus stores a manual flag having a stored manual flag logic value, and the manual flag is stored in a first non-volatile memory. The apparatus stores a trusted flag having a stored trusted flag logic value, and the trusted flag is stored in a second non-volatile memory. The apparatus is connected to a computer network for performing a first boot-up operation. The apparatus learns an address of a neighbor apparatus connected through the communications network. The apparatus is responsive: to the manual flag, and to the trusted flag, and to the first boot-up operation, and to learning a neighbor address of the neighbor apparatus, for configuring an address of the apparatus from an identifier stored in a third non-volatile memory, and from the neighbor address, and for changing the stored trusted flag logic value to a second logic value. Also the apparatus chooses, responsive to the manual flag, between using a manually loaded address or performing the configuring an address. Additionally, the apparatus decides, responsive to a neighbor trusted flag learned by communicating with the neighbor apparatus through the communications network, to use the neighbor address of the neighbor apparatus in configuring an address of the apparatus.

Automatic assignment of addresses in a computer communications network

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North Chelmsford, MA, United States of America

Shirish S Sathaye