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:
Apr. 13, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 18, 1999
Carl Ketcham, Taylorsville, UT (US);
3Com Corporation, Marlborough, MA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for improving the efficiency of a packet-based network by using aggregate packets are described. One example method involves determining which network devices support aggregate packets. If a first packet is received on a route that supports aggregate packets, it is then held for a short period. During this short period, if an additional packet is received that shares at least one common route element that also supports aggregate packets with the first packet, the first packet and the additional packet are combined into a single larger aggregate packet. This can reduce the transmission time when there are multiple packets being sent to common destinations because the inter-packet time may be reduced. Additionally, in some networks, this technique allows the bandwidth of a common medium to be more fully used because more of the packets will be closer to the maximum size allowed.