Patent · US Active

Instantaneous garbage collection of network data units

US10999223B1 · kind B1 · utility

4Cited by
9References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 8, 2019
Grant dateMay 4, 2021
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 18, 2039

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2212/154
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Approaches, techniques, and mechanisms are disclosed for reutilizing discarded link data in a buffer space for buffering data units in a network device. Rather than wasting resources on garbage collection of such link data when a data unit is dropped, the link data is used as a free list that indicates buffer entries in which new data may be stored. In an embodiment, operations of the buffer may further be enhanced by re-using the discarded link data as link data for a new data unit. The link data for a formerly buffered data unit may be assigned exclusively to a new data unit, which uses the discarded link data to determine where to store its constituent data. As a consequence, the discarded link data actually serves as valid link data for the new data unit, and new link data need not be generated for the new data unit.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.