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. 05, 2016
Filed:
Dec. 22, 2011
William J. Armstrong, Rochester, MN (US);
Claude Basso, Nice, FR;
Chih-jen Chang, Apex, NC (US);
Mircea Gusat, Langnau, CH;
Jeffrey J. Lynch, Apex, NC (US);
Cyriel J. Minkenberg, Gutenswil, CH;
Kenneth M. Valk, Rochester, MN (US);
William J. Armstrong, Rochester, MN (US);
Claude Basso, Nice, FR;
Chih-Jen Chang, Apex, NC (US);
Mircea Gusat, Langnau, CH;
Jeffrey J. Lynch, Apex, NC (US);
Cyriel J. Minkenberg, Gutenswil, CH;
Kenneth M. Valk, Rochester, MN (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A network fabric may divide a physical connection into a plurality of VLANs as defined by IEEE 802.1Q. Moreover, many network fabrics use Priority Flow Control to identify and segregate network traffic based on different traffic classes or priorities. Current routing protocols define only eight traffic classes. In contrast, a network fabric may contain thousands of unique VLANs. When network congestion occurs, network devices (e.g., switches, bridges, routers, servers, etc.) can negotiate to pause the network traffic associated with one of the different traffic classes. Pausing the data packets associated with a single traffic class may also stop the data packets associated with thousands of VLANs. The embodiments disclosed herein permit a network fabric to individually pause VLANs rather than entire traffic classes.