Deterministic data center forwarding in ai training clusters

A method, comprising:

• determining, by a processing unit in a data center, one or more source port values associated with each of a plurality of bins of a router within the data center, wherein each bin corresponds to an equal-cost multipath route from the router within the data center;
• selecting, by the processing unit, a particular equal-cost multipath route from the router within the data center on which a particular packet is to be transmitted and a particular selected bin of the plurality of bins that corresponds to the particular equal-cost multipath route;
• generating, by the processing unit, the particular packet with a source port corresponding to one or more particular source port values associated with the particular selected bin;
• and
• transmitting, by the processing unit, the particular packet to the router to cause the router to transmit the particular packet within the data center via the particular equal-cost multipath route by encapsulating the particular packet with a deterministic path header associated with the particular equal-cost multipath route corresponding to the particular selected bin.

A system, comprising:

• a data center;
• a graphics processing unit deployed in the data center;
• and
• a top-of-rack router deployed in the data center and communicatively coupled to the graphics processing unit, wherein the graphics processing unit is configured to:
• determine one or more source port values associated with each of a plurality of bins of the top-of-rack router within the data center, wherein each bin corresponds to an equal-cost multipath route from the top-of-rack router within the data center;
• select a particular equal-cost multipath route from the top-of-rack router within the data center on which a particular packet is to be transmitted and a particular selected bin of the plurality of bins that corresponds to the particular equal-cost multipath route;
• generate the particular packet with a source port corresponding to one or more particular source port values associated with the particular selected bin;
• and
• transmit the particular packet to the top-of-rack router to cause the top-of-rack router to transmit the particular packet within the data center via the particular equal-cost multipath route by encapsulating the particular packet with a deterministic path header associated with the particular equal-cost multipath route corresponding to the particular selected bin.