Fabric control protocol for data center networks with packet spraying over multiple alternate data paths
US11178262B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 28, 2018 |
| Grant date | Nov 16, 2021 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 28, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L69/324
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A fabric control protocol is described for use within a data center in which a switch fabric provides full mesh interconnectivity such that any of the servers may communicate packet data for a given packet flow to any other of the servers using any of a number of parallel data paths within the data center switch fabric. The fabric control protocol enables spraying of individual packets for a given packet flow across some or all of the multiple parallel data paths in the data center switch fabric and, optionally, reordering of the packets for delivery to the destination. The fabric control protocol may provide end-to-end bandwidth scaling and flow fairness within a single tunnel based on endpoint-controlled requests and grants for flows. In some examples, the fabric control protocol packet structure is carried over an underlying protocol, such as the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.