Channel communication system
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsBrian A. Petersen, James R. Rivers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for enabling communication between a source network device and one or more destination network devices are disclosed. The source network device and the one or more destination network devices are connected via an associated interconnect to a switch having a memory associated therewith. One or more messages are composed at the source network device, where the messages include data and control information associated with the data. The messages are then sent to the switch to enable the data and at least a portion of the control information to be stored in the memory associated with the switch, where the data is stored for retrieval by the one or more destination network devices.
Claims31
In a switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to a switch via an associated switch interconnect, a method of operating the switch, comprising:
- receiving a retrieval message sent from a first one of the one or more destination devices to the switch via the associated switch interconnect, the retrieval message requesting data stored by the source device;
- and
- sending a response to the retrieval message from the switch to the first destination device, the response including the data when the retrieval message is valid and otherwise including a reply message indicating that the retrieval message is invalid, wherein the retrieval message includes a thread number identifying a thread that is requesting the data.
In a switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to a switch via an associated switch interconnect, a method of operating the switch, comprising:
- receiving data sent from the source device to the switch via the associated switch interconnect;
- storing the data when the data is accepted;
- and
- sending a storage reply message to the source device, when the data is accepted the storage reply message specifying a location of the data in memory to enable the source device to communicate the location of the data in memory to the one or more destination devices and when the data is not accepted the storage reply message indicating that the data has not been stored, wherein the storage reply message is addressed to a specific thread number.
A switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to a switch via an associated switch interconnect, comprising:
- means for receiving a retrieval message sent from a first one of the one or more destination devices to the switch via the associated switch interconnect, the retrieval message requesting data stored by the source device;
- and
- means for sending a response to the retrieval message from the switch to the first destination device, the response including the data when the retrieval message is valid and otherwise including a reply message indicating that the retrieval message is invalid, wherein the retrieval message includes a thread number identifying a thread that is requesting the data.
A switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to a switch via an associated switch interconnect, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for:
- receiving a retrieval message sent from a first one of the one or more destination devices to the switch via the associated switch interconnect, the retrieval message requesting data stored by the source device;
- and
- sending a response to the retrieval message from the switch to the first destination device, the response including the data when the retrieval message is valid and otherwise including a reply message indicating that the retrieval message is invalid, wherein the retrieval message includes a thread number identifying a thread that is requesting the data.
A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions of operating a switch in a switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to the switch via an associated switch interconnect, comprising:
- instructions for receiving a retrieval message sent from a first one of the one or more destination devices to the switch via the associated switch interconnect, the retrieval message requesting data stored by the source device;
- and
- instructions for sending a response to the retrieval message from the switch to the first destination device, the response including the data when the retrieval message is valid and otherwise including a reply message indicating that the retrieval message is invalid, wherein the retrieval message includes a thread number identifying a thread that is requesting the data.
A switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to a switch via an associated switch interconnect, comprising:
- means for receiving data sent from the source device to the switch via the associated switch interconnect;
- means for storing the data when the data is accepted;
- and
- means for sending a storage reply message to the source device, when the data is accepted the storage reply message specifying a location of the data in memory to enable the source device to communicate the location of the data in memory to the one or more destination devices and when the data is not accepted the storage reply message indicating that the data has not been stored, wherein the storage reply message is addressed to a specific thread number.
A switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to a switch via an associated switch interconnect, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory, at least one of the processor and the memory being adapted for:
- receiving data sent from the source device to the switch via the associated switch interconnect;
- storing the data when the data is accepted;
- and
- sending a storage reply message to the source device, when the data is accepted the storage reply message specifying a location of the data in memory to enable the source device to communicate the location of the data in memory to the one or more destination devices and when the data is not accepted the storage reply message indicating that the data has not been stored, wherein the storage reply message is addressed to a specific thread number.
A computer-readable medium storing thereon computer-readable instructions for operating a switch in a switch system that enables communication among a source device and one or more destination devices, the source device and the one or more destination devices each being connected to the switch via an associated switch interconnect, comprising:
- instructions for receiving data sent from the source device to the switch via the associated switch interconnect;
- instructions for storing the data when the data is accepted;
- and
- instructions for sending a storage reply message to the source device, when the data is accepted the storage reply message specifying a location of the data in memory to enable the source device to communicate the location of the data in memory to the one or more destination devices and when the data is not accepted the storage reply message indicating that the data has not been stored, wherein the storage reply message is addressed to a specific thread number.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.