Method and apparatus for reducing pool starvation in a shared memory switch
US7403976B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 29, 2005 |
| Grant date | Jul 22, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 10, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/9047
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A switch includes a reserved pool of buffers in a shared memory. The reserved pool of buffers is reserved for exclusive use by an egress port. The switch includes pool select logic which selects a free buffer from the reserved pool for storing data received from an ingress port to be forwarded to the egress port. The shared memory also includes a shared pool of buffers. The shared pool of buffers is shared by a plurality of egress ports. The pool select logic selects a free buffer in the shared pool upon detecting no free buffer in the reserved pool. The shared memory may also include a multicast pool of buffers. The multicast pool of buffers is shared by a plurality of egress ports. The pool select logic selects a free buffer in the multicast pool upon detecting an IP Multicast data packet received from an ingress port.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.