The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 27, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 15, 1996
Damon W Finney, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael James Rayfield, Tucson, AZ (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A test link protocol which continuously monitors each link in a network to ensure that the link is correctly transmitting data. Each switch, or torus has at least one of two functional components: Send Test and Receive Test. The Send Test component monitors control codes at a torus link output. The Receive Test component monitors control codes at a torus link input. After a predetermined interval, the Send Test component makes a request to send a test.sub.-- link control code. The torus sends the test.sub.-- link code to the neighboring torus, where it is removed from the data stream and sent to that torus' Receive Test. The Receive Test then generates a response message and makes a request to send that message back to the originating torus. After receiving the message, the Send Test analyzes the message to determine whether the network link is working correctly. An error is also declared if the Send Test does not receive a reply within a predetermined interval.