US 6,636,512 B1 · System, method, and article of manufacture for increasing link bandwidth utilization in a high speed digital network

Abstract

A system, method and article of manufacturing for increasing link bandwidth occupation in a high speed packet switching digital network by enabling merging the traffics provided by different source users over several network node entry ports and to be propagated throughout network paths toward a same destination network port. To that end, at network ingress, the original packets provided by said source users and entering the network, are encapsulated with a so-called Single Sided Virtual Channel (SSVC) header including a Data Link Connection Identification (DLCI) field. Then, the packets provided by said source users and entering a given network node along their predefined path are monitored. Said packets SSVC headers DLCI fields are loaded with a same Virtual Channel number, whereby the corresponding traffics are being merged into a same channel, down to the destination network node. Then, the packets in said destination node are de-encapsulated from said SSVC header.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A method for increasing utilization of link bandwidth occupation in a high speed packet switching digital network, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving original packets at a network ingress node from one or more sources, each original packet having a standard packet header and a data payload, the standard packet header containing control information including a first Data Link Connection Identification (DLCI) field, the first DLCI used in identifying links of a predefined path from the ingress node to a egress node;
encapsulating each of said received original packets with a Single Sided Virtual Channel (SSVC) header containing control information, the control information including a second Data Link Connection Identification (DLCI) field;
loading the second DLCI field of each encapsulated packet SSVC header with a virtual channel number where packets destined for the same egress node exit port have a common virtual channel number;
merging packets having common virtual channel identifiers on common exit ports in the network;
and
de-encapsulating the SSVC header from received packets at the egress node exit port.

3 more elements

An article of manufacture comprising a processor useable medium having a processor readable program embodied in said medium, wherein the processor readable program when executed on one or more network nodes causes the network to:

receive original packets at a network ingress node from one or more sources, each original packet having a standard packet header and a data payload, the standard packet header containing control information including a first Data Link Connection Identification (DLCI) field, the first DLCI used in identifying links of a predefined path from the ingress node to a egress node;
encapsulate each of said received original packets with a Single Sided Virtual Channel (SSVC) header containing control information, the control information including a second Data Link Connection Identification (DLCI) field;
load the second DLCI field of each encapsulated packet SSVC header with a virtual channel number where packets destined for the same egress node exit port have a common virtual channel number;
merge packets having common virtual channel identifiers on common exit ports in the network;
and
de-encapsulate the SSVC header from received packets at the egress node exit port.

3 more elements

A high speed packet switching network comprising:

a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by high speed links;
one or more ingress nodes, each receiving original packets from one or more sources, each original packet having a standard packet header and a data payload, the standard packet header containing control information including a first Data Link Connection Identification (DLCI) field, the first DLCI used in identifying links of a predefined path from the ingress node to a egress node wherein each received original packets is encapsulated with a Single Sided Virtual Channel (SSVC) header containing control information, the control information including a second Data Link Connection Identification (DLCI) field, the second DLCI field of each encapsulated packet SSVC header is loaded with a virtual channel number where packets destined for the same egress node exit port have a common virtual channel number;
switching nodes for merging packets having common virtual channel identifiers on common exit ports in the network;
and
at least one egress node, each de-encapsulating the SSVC header from received packets at the egress node exit port.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System, method, and article of manufacture for increasing link bandwidth utilization in a high speed digital network

Life of this patent

System, method, and article of manufacture for increasing link bandwidth utilization in a high speed digital network

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24