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AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorKenneth A. Ward
Estimating the term…
In a switched configuration in which data links can be bundled to increase data throughput, the links in a bundle are ordered. A data sender sequentially transmits cells in the data packet over links in the bundle. For example, a first cell is transmitted over a first ordered link in the bundle. The next cell is transmitted over the next link in the bundle order and operation continues in a “round robin” fashion. The data receiver is informed in advance of the order of links in the bundle and expects cells to be distributed over the links in that order. The data sender transmits a bundle sequence number with each data cell. As each new data cell is transmitted, the bundle sequence number is incremented. The receiver uses the bundle sequence number to validate cell order, to detect lost cells, and to resynchronize cell order with the sender in the case of cell errors. Bundle sequence numbers are used on a single bundle on a single link, or “hop”, between a data sender and a data receiver. When the cells are received by the data receiver of a hop, the received bundle sequence numbers are replaced by new bundle sequence numbers generated by the data sender for transmission over the next hop.
Apparatus for bundling a plurality of serial data transmission links to obtain increased data throughput for a plurality of interleaved streams of data cells, the apparatus comprising:
Apparatus for unbundling a plurality of data cell streams received over a plurality of serial data transmission links wherein data cells in the data cell streams are transmitted in data cell groups together with a bundle sequence number associated with each data cell group over the data transmission links in a predetermined fixed order, the apparatus comprising:
A method for bundling a plurality of serial data transmission links to obtain increased data throughput for a plurality of interleaved streams of data cells, the method comprising the steps of:
A method for unbundling a plurality of data cell streams received over a plurality of serial data transmission links wherein data cells in the data cell streams are transmitted in data cell groups together with a bundle sequence number associated with each data cell group over the data transmission links in a predetermined fixed order, the method comprising the steps of:
A computer program product for bundling a plurality of serial data transmission links to obtain increased data throughput for a plurality of interleaved streams of data cells, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program embodied thereon, including:
A computer program product for unbundling a plurality of data cell streams received over a plurality of serial data transmission links wherein data cells in the data cell streams are transmitted in data cell groups together with a bundle sequence number associated with each data cell group over the data transmission links in a predetermined fixed order, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon, including:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.