Method and apparatus for reclaiming buffers using a single buffer bit
US6504846B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 21, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jan 7, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 21, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/351
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for reclaiming frame buffers used to store data frames received by a network switch. The apparatus includes a multicopy queue for queuing entries corresponding to received data frames which must be transmitted by multiple output ports of the network switch, a free buffer queue for queuing frame pointers that identify locations in an external memory where reclaimed frame buffers are located, and a multicopy circuit that retrieves entries from the multicopy queue and determines if all copies of a received data frame have been transmitted by the specified output ports. The multicopy circuit also reclaims one or more frame buffers, based on the size of the received data frame. The present invention allows efficient reclaiming of frame buffers regardless of whether the received data frame is stored in a single frame buffer or multiple frame buffers.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.