US6041060A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Communications cell scheduler and scheduling method for providing periodic activities
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1997-04-30
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Granted: 2000-03-21
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Expires: 2017-04-30
Abstract
Abstract A communication cell scheduler and scheduling method are provided to efficiently provide periodic activities and predetermined events. A timer descriptor is enqueued to a cell scheduler timing wheel. A timer expiration for the timer descriptor is identified and an address for a DMA descriptor is fetched from the timer descriptor. Then the DMA descriptor is enqueued to a DMA engine to execute the DMA descriptor.
Inventors
- 👤 Philip Lynn Leichty
- 👤 Albert Alfonse Slane
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 15:54
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L12/5602; H04L2012/5629; H04L2012/5631; H04L2012/5632; H04L2012/5638; H04L2012/5646; H04L2012/5649; H04L2012/5678; H04L2012/5679
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
75 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events comprising the steps of: enqueuing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; providing said timer descriptor with predetermined fields including a flag field indicating a relative or absolute timer type; identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and enqueuing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
75 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events comprising the steps of: enqueuing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; providing said timer descriptor with predetermined fields including a flag field indicating a relative or absolute timer type; identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and enqueuing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 1 includes the step of providing a chain of said DMA descriptors.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
40 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 1 includes the step of providing said DMA descriptor with predetermined fields including predetermined flags, a data count value, a source address and a destination address.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 3 the step of providing said DMA descriptor with predetermined fields describes a data transfer, said data transfer executed by said DMA engine.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
78 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events comprising the steps of: enqueueing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and enqueuing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor; and providing said timer descriptor with predetermined fields including predetermined flags, a timer period, an expiration time, said DMA descriptor address.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
78 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events comprising the steps of: enqueueing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and enqueuing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor; and providing said timer descriptor with predetermined fields including predetermined flags, a timer period, an expiration time, said DMA descriptor address.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
47 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 1 wherein the step of enqueuing said timer descriptor to said cell scheduler timing wheel includes the step of enqueuing said timer descriptor to a time slot in said cell scheduler timing wheel.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
A scheduling method for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 6 includes the step of providing said timer descriptor with a predetermined link field, said link field for linking said timer descriptor to said time slot.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
83 words
A communication cell scheduler for providing periodic activities and predetermined events comprising: means for enqueueing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; said enqueueing means including means for enqueuing said timer descriptor to a time slot in said cell scheduler timing wheel; means for identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; means for fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and means for enqueueing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
83 words
A communication cell scheduler for providing periodic activities and predetermined events comprising: means for enqueueing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; said enqueueing means including means for enqueuing said timer descriptor to a time slot in said cell scheduler timing wheel; means for identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; means for fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and means for enqueueing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
A communication cell scheduler for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 8 wherein said timer descriptor includes predetermined fields including a link, a timer period, an expiration time, predetermined flags, and said DMA descriptor address.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
42 words
A communication cell scheduler for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 8 wherein said DMA descriptor describes a data transfer and includes predetermined fields including a data byte count, a source address, a destination address and predetermined flags.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
A communication cell scheduler for providing periodic activities and predetermined events as recited in claim 10 wherein said data transfer is executed by said DMA engine.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
97 words
A computer program product for use with a communication cell scheduler, the computer product comprising a recording medium having instructions stored on the recording medium to cause the communications cell scheduler to perform the steps of: enqueuing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; providing said timer descriptor with predetermined fields including a flag field indicating a relative or absolute timer type; identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and enqueuing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
97 words
A computer program product for use with a communication cell scheduler, the computer product comprising a recording medium having instructions stored on the recording medium to cause the communications cell scheduler to perform the steps of: enqueuing a timer descriptor to a cell scheduler timing wheel; providing said timer descriptor with predetermined fields including a flag field indicating a relative or absolute timer type; identifying a timer expiration for said timer descriptor; fetching an address for a DMA descriptor from said timer descriptor, and enqueuing said DMA descriptor to a DMA engine to execute said DMA descriptor.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
39 words
A computer program product for use with a communication cell scheduler as recited in claim 12 wherein said timer descriptor includes predetermined fields including a link, a timer period, an expiration time, predetermined flags, and said DMA descriptor address.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
A computer program product for use with a communication cell scheduler as recited in claim 12 wherein said DMA descriptor describes a data transfer and includes predetermined fields including a data byte count, a source address, a destination address and predetermined flags.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-03-21 | 2003-09-20 | 2004-03-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-03-21 | 2007-09-20 | 2008-03-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-03-21 | 2011-09-20 | 2012-03-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |