Inband directed routing for load balancing and load distribution in a data communication network

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 which further comprises: the Event Driven Interface having a plurality of outputs and programmed to identify routing patterns in said load balancing and load distribution information of said data frames, for outputting on an output line an enabling signal as frame routing information in response to identifying said load balancing and load distribution information; a multiplexer having a plurality of control inputs coupled to said outputs of said Event Driven Interface and having a data input coupled to said data communications network for receiving said serial bit stream, and having a plurality of output paths, for outputting said serial bit stream over one of said plurality of output paths in response to said enabling signal received from said Event Driven Interface.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2 which further comprises: a data frame buffer having an input coupled to said data communications network and an output coupled to said data input of said multiplexer, for buffering said data frame until the enabling signal is received by the multiplexer.

Claim 7

The system of claim 4 wherein each real time, passive monitoring device generates a control signal for rerouting the serial stream of binary bits to the alternative link connection between the sending and receiving stations.

Claim 8

The system of claim 5 further including a multiplexer coupled to the output of each real time passive monitoring device for directing the control signal to the selected the alternative link connection bypassing the congested node.

Claim 9

The system of claim 6 further including a buffer coupled to the multiplexer for receiving the serial bit stream for release to the multiplexer when the control signal is provided to the multiplexer by the real time passive monitoring device.

Claim 10

The system of claim 7 wherein the real time, passive monitoring device is a programmable and digital filter.

Claim 11

The system of claim 8 wherein the programmable digital filter is an event driven interface.

Claim 12

In a system for monitoring and controlling a data communication network which communicates a serial stream of binary bits having a characteristic pattern for data frames which include load balancing and load distribution information, a method for operating said system comprising the steps of: supplying a data packet from a sending station for transmission through a communication network including a plurality of nodes coupled to a receiving station through alternative linking paths; sending routing information in each data packet for use by each node in routing the packets to the receiving station; monitoring the data packets at each node for routing information and generating a control signal to direct the data packet to another node in the network; counting the number of frames and byte transmissions at each node for load control purposes; reporting the load information to the sending station for determination whether a node is in a congested state; altering the routing information in each packet to bypass a node in a congested state by way of an alternative linking path; and routing the data packet at each node to the receiving station by way of the alternative linking path when bypassing a congested node.

Claim 13

In a system for monitoring and controlling a data communication network which communicates a serial stream of binary bits having a characteristic pattern for data frames which include load balancing and load distribution information, a method for operating said system comprising the steps of: supplying a data packet from a sending station for transmission through a communication network including a plurality of nodes coupled to a receiving station through alternative linking paths; sending routing information in each data packet for use by each node in routing the packets to the receiving station; monitoring the data packets at each node for routing information and generating a control signal to direct the data packet to another node in the network; counting the number of frames and byte transmissions at each node for load control purposes; reporting the load information to the sending station for determination whether a node is in a congested state; altering the routing information in each packet to bypass a node in a congested state by way of an alternative linking path; and routing the data packet at each node to the receiving station by way of the alternative linking path when bypassing a congested node.