Method, system, and computer program product for ethernet virtualization using an elastic FIFO memory to facilitate flow of broadcast traffic to virtual hosts
US7760736B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 25, 2008 |
| Grant date | Jul 20, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 22, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/76
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A packet that represents unknown traffic for a virtual host is received. A test is performed to ascertain whether or not a destination connection can be determined for the received packet wherein it is discovered the packet is a broadcast (or multicast) packet. Since such packets have multiple destinations in a virtualized environment, the broadcast (or multicast) packet requires special handling and is passed to a store engine. The store engine obtains a free packet buffer from an elastic FIFO memory, moves the packet into the free packet buffer, and submits the free packet buffer back to the elastic FIFO memory. An assist engine determines and assigns connections to packets submitted to the elastic FIFO without known connections, such as broadcast (or multicast) packets. The assist engine efficiently performs this task through the use of indirect buffers, which are also obtained from and submitted back to the elastic FIFO. A monitoring engine detects both an availability of connection-specific resources and a presence of one or more waiting packets, within the elastic FIFO, with a known destination connection. When both are detected, said monitoring engine removes a packet from t…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.