# US 2019/0171605 A1 · Pcie lane aggregation over a high speed link > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0171605 A1 - Document ID: US20190171605A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/267,748 - Filed: 2019-02-05 - Published: 2019-06-06 - Earliest claimed: 2013-08-09 - Assignees: Inphi Corporation - Applicants: Inphi Corporation - Inventors: Sreenivas KRISHNAN; Nirmal Raj SAXENA - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190171605A1 ## CPC - G06F 13/4022: {using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network (G06F13/4009 takes precedence)} - G06F 13/4027: {using bus bridges (G06F13/4022 takes precedence)} - G06F 13/4282: {on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus (on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247)} - H04B 10/27: Arrangements for networking - H04L 12/64: Hybrid switching systems - H04L 12/66: Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways - H04Q 11/0005: {Switch and router aspects} - H04J 14/0267: {Optical signaling or routing} - H04L 49/15: Interconnection of switching modules - H04Q 2011/009: {Topology aspects} - Y02D 10/00: Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04B: TRANSMISSION - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04Q: SELECTING (switches, relays, selectors H01H; wireless communication networks H04W) - H04J: MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION (transmission in general H04B; peculiar to transmission of digital information H04L5/00; systems for the simultaneous or sequential transmission of more than one television signal H04N7/08; in exchanges H04Q11/00; stereophonic systems H04S) - Y02D: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE ## Abstract A method of operating a computer network system configured with disaggregated inputs/outputs. This system can be configured in a leaf-spine architecture and include a router coupled to a network source, a plurality of core switches coupled to the router, a plurality of aggregator switches coupled to each of the plurality of core switches, and a plurality of rack modules coupled to each of the plurality of aggregator switches. Each of rack modules can include an I/O appliance with a downstream aggregator module, a plurality of server devices each with PCIe interfaces, and an upstream aggregator module that aggregates each of the PCIe interfaces. A high-speed link can be configured between the downstream and upstream aggregator modules via aggregation of many serial lanes to provide reliable high speed bit stream transport over long distances, which allows for better utilization of resources and scalability of memory capacity independent of the server count. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer network system comprising: an I/O appliance having a downstream aggregating silicon photonics device provided on each of a plurality of optical ports numbered from 1 to N; and a plurality of server devices coupled to the I/O appliance, each of the server devices comprising a PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) interface, and an upstream aggregating silicon photonics device coupled to the plurality of server devices and aggregating each of the PCIe interfaces. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 further comprising a twisted pair configured between the PCIe interfaces and the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein the downstream aggregating silicon photonics device and the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device are configured in a 1-to-1 mapping. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1 wherein a high-speed link is configured between the downstream aggregating silicon photonics device and the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The system of claim 4 further comprising a pair of optical convertors coupled by an optical fiber configured between the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device and the downstream aggregating silicon photonics device. ### Claim 6 A computer network system comprising: a router coupled to a network source; a plurality of core switches coupled to the router; a plurality of aggregator switches coupled to each of the plurality of core switches; and a plurality of rack modules coupled to each of the plurality of aggregator switches, wherein each of the plurality of rack modules comprises: an I/O appliance having a downstream aggregating silicon photonics device provided on each of a plurality of optical ports numbered from 1 to N; and a plurality of server devices coupled to the I/O appliance, each of the server devices having a PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) interface, and an upstream aggregator module coupled to the plurality of server devices and aggregating each of the PCIe interfaces. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the downstream aggregator module is coupled to one or more PCIe EP (End Point) modules; and wherein the downstream aggregator module and the one or more PCIe EP modules are integrated on a silicon material. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein the downstream aggregator module and the upstream aggregator module are configured in a 1-to-1 mapping. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6 wherein a high-speed link is configured between the downstream aggregator module and the upstream aggregator module. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 further comprising a pair of optical convertors coupled by an optical fiber configured between the upstream aggregator module and the downstream aggregator module; and wherein the computer network system is configured in a leaf-spine architecture. ### Claim 11 A method of operating a computer network system having an I/O appliance, a plurality of server devices coupled to the I/O appliance, and an upstream aggregating silicon photonics device coupled to the plurality of server devices; the method comprising: receiving, by a plurality of optical ports of the I/O appliance numbered from 1 to N, a data stream; aggregating, by a downstream aggregating silicon photonics device of the I/O appliance provided on each of the plurality of optical ports, the data stream; processing, by a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface of each server device, the data stream; and aggregating, by the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device, each of the PCIe interfaces to aggregate the data stream. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein aggregating each of the PCIe interfaces includes aggregating via a twisted pair configuration between the PCIe interfaces and the upstream silicon photonics device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the downstream aggregating silicon photonics device and the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device are configured in a 1-to-1 mapping. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising communicating, by a high-speed link configured between the downstream aggregating silicon photonics device and the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device, the data stream. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 further comprising converting, by a pair of optical converters coupled by an optical fiber configured between the upstream aggregating silicon photonics device and the downstream aggregating silicon photonics device, the data stream. ### Claim 16 A method of operating a computer network system a router coupled to a network source, a plurality of core switches coupled to the router, a plurality of aggregator switches coupled to each of the plurality of core switches, and a plurality of rack modules coupled to each of the plurality of aggregator switches, each of the rack modules including an Input/Output (I/O) appliance, a plurality of server devices coupled to the I/O appliance, and an upstream aggregator module coupled to the plurality of service devices; the method comprising: receiving, by a plurality of optical ports of the I/O appliance numbered from 1 to N, a data stream; aggregating, by a downstream aggregator module of the I/O appliance provided on each of the plurality of optical ports, the data stream; processing, by a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface of each server device, the data stream; and aggregating, by the upstream aggregator module, each of the PCIe interfaces to aggregate the data stream. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 further comprising configuring, by one or more PCIe End Point (EP) modules coupled to the downstream aggregator module; the data stream; and wherein the downstream aggregator module and the one or more PCIe EP modules are integrated on a silicon material. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 wherein the downstream aggregator module and the upstream aggregator module are configured in a 1-to-1 mapping. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16 further comprising communicating, by a high-speed link configured between the downstream aggregator module and the upstream aggregator module, the data stream. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19 further comprising converting, by a pair of optical converters coupled by an optical fiber configured between the upstream aggregator module and the downstream aggregator module, the data stream.