US 6,334,154 B1Granted

Article of manufacture for communications of multiple partitions employing host-network interface, and address resolution protocol for constructing data frame format according to client format

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorsPaul M. Gioquindo, Chin Lee, Bruce H. Ratcliff, Stephen R. Valley

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Abstract

In a mainframe class data processing system having multiple logical partitions and a port to a network, a host-network interface is established for reducing network overhead at the multiple partitions. The host-network interface includes, for example, a host channel connection coupling the multiple partitions of the host system to a communications adapter having a network device driver for each network coupled to the adapter. The adapter also includes an address resolution protocol (ARP) cache designed to hold predetermined media headers for the clients coupled to the network(s) for use in forwarding an internet protocol (IP) datagram across the network to one of the clients from a partition of the host system. If not predetermined, the adapter is provided with a capability to dynamically determine the needed media header for transmission of the IP datagram across the network to the client. In Ethernet format, this dynamically determining includes forwarding an Ethernet 802.3 ARP request and an Ethernet DIX ARP request from the IP datagram. Provision is also made for partition-to-partition communication of IP datagrams by storing IP addresses of the logical partitions as HOME addresses in the ARP cache of the adapter.

Claims14

Dependent claims

An article of manufacture comprising:

at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing network communications in a mainframe class data processing system having multiple partitions and a port to a network, the computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprising:
(i) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect receiving at a host-network interface an internet protocol (IP) datagram, said IP datagram to be routed to a client coupled to said network;
(ii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect constructing a first address resolution protocol (ARP) request in a first frame format from said IP datagram and a second ARP request in a second frame format from said IP datagram;
(iii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect sending both said first ARP request and said second ARP request across said network to said client;
(iv) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect receiving a response from said client in reply to one of said first ARP request and said second ARP request, said response indicating that said client communicates in either said first frame format or said second frame format;
(v) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect storing at the host-network interface an indication that said client communicates in said first frame format or said second frame format;
and
(vi) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect using the indication stored at the host-network interface that the client communicates in the first frame format or the second frame format to subsequently format and send additional IP datagrams from the at least one partition to that client.

5 more elements

An article of manufacture comprising:

at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing network communications in a mainframe class data processing system having multiple partitions and a port to a network, the computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprising:
(i) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect receiving at a host-network interface an internet protocol (IP) datagram from one partition of said multiple partitions, said IP datagram to be routed to a client coupled to said network and having no media header specified;
(ii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect dynamically determining at the host-network interface a media header for use in communicating said IP datagram to said client coupled to said network;
and
wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect dynamically determining comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect determining whether the media header for the client is known at the host-network interface and if not, for broadcasting a request to the client and identifying the media header from a response by the client to the request.

2 more elements

An article of manufacture comprising:

at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing network communications in a mainframe class data processing system having multiple partitions and a port to a network, the computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprising:
(i) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect broadcasting from a host-network interface across said network a first address resolution protocol (ARP) request in a first frame format and a second ARP request in a second frame format,
(ii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect receiving a response ARP packet at the host-network interface from a client coupled to said network responsive to said broadcasting of said first ARP request and said second ARP request, said response ARP packet including a media header defining a data format to use for an internet protocol session with said client, said data format comprising one of said first frame formats or said second frame format;
and
(iii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect saving said media header at said host-network interface for appending to an IP datagram from a partition of said multiple partitions when said IP datagram is to be routed to said client.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.