System and method for preserving message order while employing both programmed I/O and DMA operations
US5887134A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 30, 1997 |
| Grant date | Mar 23, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 30, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F15/17331
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In a cluster of computer nodes, each node has network interface and at least one processor. Transmission of a multipart message from a first node to a second node is initiated by sending to a network interface of the first node a sequence of PIO store and DMA store commands, each PIO store and DMA store command specifying a respective component of the multipart message to be stored in a respective specified memory mapped location in the second node, the sequence of the PIO store and DMA store commands corresponding to a predefined message component order. The first node's network interface packetizes the sequence of PIO and DMA commands to generate an ordered stream of data transfer packets whose order corresponds to the predefined message component order, and transmits the ordered stream of data transfer packets to the second node so as to store the respective components of the multipart message in their respective specified memory locations in the second node in the predefined message component order.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.