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:
Jun. 20, 2006
Filed:
Jan. 14, 2000
Jeffrey Dwork, San Jose, CA (US);
Robert Alan Williams, Cupertino, CA (US);
Jeffrey Dwork, San Jose, CA (US);
Robert Alan Williams, Cupertino, CA (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
An automatic flow control mechanism that supports two modes of automatic flow control is provided in a network interface. In the first flow control mode, the network interface periodically compares the number of available receive descriptors with low and high threshold values. When the number of available receive descriptors falls below the low threshold value, the network interface sends a PAUSE frame requesting the link partner to suspend its transmission (in a full-duplex mode), or enables the back pressure mechanism (in a half-duplex mode). In the second flow control mode, when the network interface detects that the number of available receive descriptors is less than the low threshold value, it transmits a PAUSE frame requesting the link partner to suspend its transmission for a time period corresponding to a preprogrammed pause value (in a full-duplex mode), or enables the back pressure mechanism, at least, for a time interval defined by a pause timer loaded with the preprogrammed pause value (in a half-duplex mode).