Method and apparatus for striping packets over parallel communication links

A method for performing packet based data communications executed on a processor unit operatively coupled to two or more communication sublinks to receive data and a single sublink to transmit data, the method comprising the steps of:

• determining which sublinks are in an available set of sublinks and which sublinks are in a busy set of sublinks;
• receiving packets of data over the available set of sublinks;
• extracting packets of data received in parallel over the available sublinks;
• and
• transmitting the packets of data serially over the single sublink at a bandwidth at least greater than the bandwidth associated with any one of the available sublinks.

An apparatus for performing packet based data communications operatively coupled to a single sublink to receive data and two or more communication sublinks to transmit data, comprising:

• means for receiving data packets over the single sublink;
• means for separating the two or more communication sublinks into a busy set of sublinks and an available set of sublinks;
• and
• means for transmitting the data packets received over the single sublink by striping the one or more packets of data over the sublinks in the available set of sublinks.

An apparatus for performing packet based data communications coupled to two or more communication sublinks to receive data and a single sublink to transmit data, comprising:

• means for determining which sublinks are in an available set of sublinks and which sublinks are in a busy set of sublinks;
• means for receiving packets of data over the available set of sublinks;
• means for extracting packets of data received in parallel over the available sublinks;
• and
• means for transmitting the packets of data serially over the single sublink at a bandwidth at least greater than the bandwidth associated with any one of the available sublinks.