Patent · US Active

Selecting a master processor from an ambiguous peer group

US8929251B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
8References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 8, 2013
Grant dateJan 6, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 8, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L67/1051
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A distributed switch may include a plurality of special-purpose processors that control the different functions of the switch. To enable some special services, however, the distributed switch may need one of these processors to perform the role of a master. When a processor is powered on, the processor may publish a corresponding unique ID. Before electing the master, the special-purpose processors may use a discovery process to identify the network topology of the switch and evaluate the published IDs to determine which processor should be the master. If all the processors nominate the same master processor, then that processor is elected as the master and may finish configuring the distributed switch to enable the special services.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.