US20030177243A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Frame batching and compression for IP transmission
Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Ltd
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Filing: 2003-02-19
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2023-02-19
Abstract
Abstract A storage router and related method are presented for combining multiple host frames, such as Fibre Channel frames, together into a single datagram for tunneling transmission over an IP or similar network. The storage router operates by storing incoming host frames in a host frame buffer. When there is sufficient data in the buffer, multiple host frames are batched together, compressed, and converted into an IP datagram. The number of host frames to be batched together can be established through a variety of tests, including total bytes of data, number of frames, or through a time-out mechanism. The network layer then fragments the datagram into data link level frames, such as 1500 byte Ethernet frames. When the datagram arrives at the final destination, the segmented datagram is reconstructed, decompressed, and the multiple host frames are then extracted and passed on to the recipient host frame network.
Inventors
- 👤 William Collette
- 👤 Mark Moran
- 👤 Robert Engebretson
- 👤 Brian Johnson
- 👤 Mike Morandi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 15:58
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L69/00; H04L69/04; H04L12/00; H04L12/28; H04L12/46; H04L12/4633; H04L69/16; H04L69/166; H04L69/22
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
89 words
1 . A method for transmitting host frames from a first host frame network to a second host frame network over a datagram network comprising the steps of: a) creating a batch of frames consisting of a plurality of host frames received from the first host frame network; b) compressing the batch of frames to create a compressed batch of frames; c) forming a transport segment from the compressed batch of frames; d) forming a datagram from the transport segment; and e) transmitting the datagram over the datagram network.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
89 words
1 . A method for transmitting host frames from a first host frame network to a second host frame network over a datagram network comprising the steps of: a) creating a batch of frames consisting of a plurality of host frames received from the first host frame network; b) compressing the batch of frames to create a compressed batch of frames; c) forming a transport segment from the compressed batch of frames; d) forming a datagram from the transport segment; and e) transmitting the datagram over the datagram network.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
60 words
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising f) receiving the datagram from the datagram network; g) extracting the compressed batch of frames from the datagram; h) decompressing the compressed batch of frames back into the batch of frames; and i) transmitting the plurality of host frames in the batch of frames over the second host frame network.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the datagram network is an IP network, and the host frame networks are Fibre Channel networks.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the datagram network is an IP network, and the host frame networks are ESCON channels.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
36 words
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the datagram network is an IP network, the first host frame network is a Fibre Channel network, and the second host frame network is an ESCON channel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
44 words
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transport segment is formed by a local transport layer, and the local transport layer stores the compressed batch of frames in a buffer for retransmission when retransmission is desired by a remote transport layer.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
30 words
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of creating a batch of frames further comprises storing the plurality of host frames in a host frame buffer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
39 words
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of creating a batch of frames further comprises combining the host frames received in the host frame buffer into the batch of frames when triggered by an algorithm.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the algorithm tracks the number of host frames received since the previous batch of frames was created and triggers the creation of a batch of frames when the number of host frames received exceeds a frames limit value.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the frames limit value is set heuristically to maximize data throughput over the datagram network.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the frames limit value is set heuristically to balance maximizing data throughput over the Internet protocol network without significantly increasing data latency.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
43 words
12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the algorithm tracks the amount of time since the previous batch of frames was created and triggers the creation of a batch of frames when the amount of time exceeds a time limit value.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
49 words
13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the algorithm tracks the total amount of data stored in the host frame buffer since the previous batch of frames was created and triggers the creation of the batch-of-frames when the tracked amount of data exceeds a frames limit value.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
125 words
14 . A storage router comprising: a) a host frame interface that receives host frames; b) a network interface in communication with a datagram network; c) a processor capable of operating an algorithm, the algorithm triggering the formation of a batch of frames having a plurality of host frames received from the host frame interface; d) a compression object that compresses the batch of frames into a compressed batch of frames; e) a transport object that adds a transport header to the batch of frames to create a transport segment; and f) a network object that adds a network header to the transport segment to create a network datagram, the network objecting presenting the datagram to the network interface for transmission over the datagram network.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
125 words
14 . A storage router comprising: a) a host frame interface that receives host frames; b) a network interface in communication with a datagram network; c) a processor capable of operating an algorithm, the algorithm triggering the formation of a batch of frames having a plurality of host frames received from the host frame interface; d) a compression object that compresses the batch of frames into a compressed batch of frames; e) a transport object that adds a transport header to the batch of frames to create a transport segment; and f) a network object that adds a network header to the transport segment to create a network datagram, the network objecting presenting the datagram to the network interface for transmission over the datagram network.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
17 words
15 . The storage router of claim 14 , wherein the datagram network is an IP network.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
17 words
16 . The storage router of claim 15 , wherein the host frames are Fibre Channel frames.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
26 words
17 . The storage router of claim 14 , further comprising a host frame buffer memory that stores host frames received by the host frame interface;
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
20 words
18 . The storage router of claim 14 , wherein the processor is implemented on a field programmable gate array.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
190 words
19 . A method for transmitting Fibre Channel frames from a first Fibre Channel network to a second Fibre Channel network over a Internet Protocol network comprising the steps of: a) storing Fibre Channel frames received from the first Fibre Channel network on a host frame buffer; b) creating a batch of frames consisting of a plurality of Fibre Channel frames stored on the host frame buffer; c) compressing the batch of frames to create a compressed batch of frames; d) forming a transport segment from the compressed batch of frames; e) forming an IP datagram from the transport segment; f) fragmenting the IP datagram into multiple data link frames; g) transmitting the data link frames over the Internet Protocol network; h) receiving the data link frames from the Internet Protocol network; i) reforming the IP datagram from the received data link frames; j) extracting the compressed batch of frames from the reformed IP datagram; k) decompressing the compressed batch of frames back into the batch of Fibre Channel frames; and l) transmitting the plurality of Fibre Channel frames in the batch of frames over the second Fibre Channel network.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
190 words
19 . A method for transmitting Fibre Channel frames from a first Fibre Channel network to a second Fibre Channel network over a Internet Protocol network comprising the steps of: a) storing Fibre Channel frames received from the first Fibre Channel network on a host frame buffer; b) creating a batch of frames consisting of a plurality of Fibre Channel frames stored on the host frame buffer; c) compressing the batch of frames to create a compressed batch of frames; d) forming a transport segment from the compressed batch of frames; e) forming an IP datagram from the transport segment; f) fragmenting the IP datagram into multiple data link frames; g) transmitting the data link frames over the Internet Protocol network; h) receiving the data link frames from the Internet Protocol network; i) reforming the IP datagram from the received data link frames; j) extracting the compressed batch of frames from the reformed IP datagram; k) decompressing the compressed batch of frames back into the batch of Fibre Channel frames; and l) transmitting the plurality of Fibre Channel frames in the batch of frames over the second Fibre Channel network.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
24 words
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the step of creating a batch of frames is accomplished when triggered by an algorithm.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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