Patent · US Active

Detecting an elephant flow based on the size of a packet

US9548924B2 · kind B2 · utility

54Cited by
108References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 31, 2014
Grant dateJan 17, 2017
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 31, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L67/10
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a forwarding element that inspects the size of each of several packets in a data flow to determine whether the data flow is an elephant flow. The forwarding element inspects the size because, in order for the packet to be of a certain size, the data flow had to already have gone through a slow start in which smaller packets are transferred and by definition be an elephant flow. When the forwarding element receives a packet in a data flow, the forwarding element identifies the size of the packet. The forwarding element then determines if the size of the packet is greater than a threshold size. If the size is greater, the forwarding element specifies that the packet's data flow is an elephant flow.

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