Fibre channel over ethernet
US7564869B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 10, 2005 |
| Grant date | Jul 21, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 30, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2101/645
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention provides methods and devices for implementing a Low Latency Ethernet (“LLE”) solution, also referred to herein as a Data Center Ethernet (“DCE”) solution, which simplifies the connectivity of data centers and provides a high bandwidth, low latency network for carrying Ethernet and storage traffic. Some aspects of the invention involve transforming FC frames into a format suitable for transport on an Ethernet. Some preferred implementations of the invention implement multiple virtual lanes (“VLs”) in a single physical connection of a data center or similar network. Some VLs are “drop” VLs, with Ethernet-like behavior, and others are “no-drop” lanes with FC-like behavior. Some preferred implementations of the invention provide guaranteed bandwidth based on credits and VL. Active buffer management allows for both high reliability and low latency while using small frame buffers. Preferably, the rules for active buffer management are different for drop and no drop VLs.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.