Interface to network protocol software to support hardware acceleration of critical functions
US6456962B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 3, 1999 |
| Grant date | Sep 24, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 3, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2012/5617
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
LAN interface logic (33) receives frames from a LAN segment (32), and frame transport logic (40, 54, 56) transfers frames to and from an ATM network. Forwarding logic (36) is used to (i) determine whether a mapping between a destination address (DA) and a virtual connection (VC) in the ATM network exists, (ii) forward frames containing a known DA to the frame transport logic for transfer to the ATM network, (iii) forward frames containing unknown DAs to the frame transport logic for transfer to a broadcast and unknown server (BUS 74) in the ATM network, and (iv) pass unknown DAs to a LAN emulation client (LEC) processor (42, FIG. 5) to resolve the address. The LEC processor creates a LAN emulation address resolution protocol (LE_ARP) request message containing the unknown DA, and the LE_ARP request message is transferred to a LAN emulation server (LES 76). The LES returns an ATM address of a remote LEC via which the destination node can be reached. The LEC processor uses the ATM address to establish a new VC to the destination node, and provides the DA-VC mapping to the forwarding logic for use in forwarding subsequently received frames.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.