Pseudo-ethernet switch without ethernet media-access-controllers (MAC's) that copies ethernet context registers between PCI-express ports
US7480303B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 16, 2005 |
| Grant date | Jan 20, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 26, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/103
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A Pseudo-Ethernet switch has a routing table that uses Ethernet media-access controller (MAC) addresses to route Ethernet packets through a switch fabric between an input port and an output port. However, the input port and output port have Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIE) interfaces that read and write PCI-Express packets to and from host-processor memories. When used in a blade system, host processor boards have PCIE physical links that connect to the PCIE ports on the Pseudo-Ethernet switch. The Pseudo-Ethernet switch does not have Ethernet MAC and Ethernet physical layers, saving considerable hardware. The switch fabric can be a cross-bar switch or can be a shared memory that stores Ethernet packet data embedded in the PCIE packets. Write and read pointers for a buffer storing an Ethernet packet in the shared memory can be passed from input to output port to perform packet switching.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.