Parallel computer having MAC-relay layer snooped transport header to determine if a message should be routed directly to transport layer depending on its destination
US5588121A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 9, 1996 |
| Grant date | Dec 24, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 9, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/00
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A parallel computer system comprises a number of processing elements, at least one communication element, an internal network interconnecting the communications and processing elements, at least one external network connected to the communications element, and a number of services resident in the elements. Each of the elements includes a protocol stack comprising transport, network, logical link and MAC (media access control) layers. Routing messages between services and the external network is performed in the MAC layer, rather than by a relay service at application level as in conventional systems. This improves the efficiency of the system, by obviating the need to pass messages up the stack to the routing function and then to pass them back down the stack again.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.