Method and apparatus for selectively discarding packets for blocked output queues in the network switch
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsBahadir Erimli, Thomas J. Runaldue, Chandan Egbert, Denise Kerstein
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Abstract
An apparatus and method of controlling the transmission of copies of a frame of data from a multiport device, such as a multiport network switch, determines which ones of the ports are designated to transmit a copy of a multicopy frame received at the switch. The switch then determines which of these designated ports are not available to transmit a copy of the frame. The copies are transmitted from those designated ports that are available to transmit a copy of the multicopy frame, while the copies are discarded for those designated ports that are not available to transmit a copy of that multicopy frame.
Claims13
A method of controlling transmission of copies of a frame of data through a plurality of ports, comprising the steps of:
- designating the ports from which the copies of the frame are to be transmitted;
- determining which of the designated ports are not available to transmit one of the copies of the frame;
- and
- providing the copies of the frame to the designated ports that are available to transmit one of the copies of the frame and discarding the copies of the frame to be transmitted from the designated ports that are not available to transmit one of the copies of the frame.
A multiport network switch which transmits multiple copies of a single frame of data, the network switch comprising:
- a plurality of ports from which frames of data are transmitted;
- a port vector generator that generates a port vector which designates from which ports copies of a frame are to be transmitted;
- a transmission arrangement configured to determine the availability of each port designated by the port vector to transmit a copy of the frame and transmit copies of the frames through the designated ports that are available to transmit a copy of the frame and to discard copies of the frames to be transmitted from the designated ports that are not available to transmit a copy of the frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.