Claims
- 1. A system for controlling data communications in a data communication network, the system comprising:
a data communication channel; a sending device port disposed adjacent to one end of the data communication channel, the sending device port transmitting a plurality of data frames; a receiving device port disposed adjacent to the other end of the data communication channel, the receiving device port receiving the plurality of data frames; and a flow control interception device disposed along the data communication channel between the sending device port and the receiving device port, the flow control interception device being adapted to control the transmission of the data frames in response to a control signal.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the flow control interception device comprises an ingress flow control interception device disposed between the sending device port and the one end of the data communication channel.
- 3. The system of claim 2 wherein the ingress flow control interception device is configured to receive a flow control signal.
- 4. The system of claim 2 wherein the ingress flow control interception device comprises an ingress buffer.
- 5. The system of claim 4 wherein the ingress buffer has a predetermined capacity according to a maximum buffer-to-buffer credit value for the data communication channel.
- 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the flow control interception device comprises an egress flow control interception device disposed between the receiving device port and the other end of the data communication channel.
- 7. The system of claim 6 wherein the egress flow control interception device is configured to transmit a flow control signal.
- 8. The system of claim 6 wherein the egress flow control interception device comprises an egress buffer.
- 9. The system of claim 1 further comprising another flow control interception device, one of the flow control interception devices having an egress buffer, the egress buffer having a predetermined capacity according to a distance between the flow control interception devices.
- 10. The system of claim 1 wherein the data communication channel is a Fiber Channel communication channel.
- 11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a sending device in communication with the sending device port.
- 12. The system of claim 1 further comprising a receiving device in communication with the receiving device port.
- 13. The system of claim 1 wherein the data communication channel comprises a portion of a SONET/SDH network.
- 14. A method for extending the reach of a data communication channel and providing subrate data transfer, the method comprising:
transmitting a data frame from a sending device; transmitting the data frame through the data communication channel if a flow control signal is in a first state; buffering the data frame if the flow control signal is in a second state; and transmitting the buffered data frame through the data communication channel in response to a flow control signal in the first state.
- 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
receiving the data frame transmitted through the data communication channel; transmitting the received data frame to a receiving device if the receiving device is available to process the data frame; and buffering the received data frame if the receiving device is unavailable to process the data frame.
- 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising transmitting the buffered data frame if the receiving device becomes available to process the buffered data frame.
- 17. The method of claim 15 further comprising:
generating the flow control signal in the second state if a quantity of buffered data frames exceeds a predetermined value; and generating the flow control signal in the first state if the quantity of buffered data frames does not exceed the predetermined value.
- 18. The method of claim 14 wherein the flow control signal comprises a pause timer.
- 19. The method of claim 14 wherein the flow control signal comprises a repetitively generated signal, each repetition of the repetitively generated signal being in one of the first state and the second state.
- 20. The method of claim 14 further comprising generating a receiver ready primitive signal to enable the transmission of the data frame from the sending device if the flow control signal is in the first state.
- 21. The method of claim 15 further comprising generating a receiver ready primitive signal to indicate that the receiving device is available to process the data frame.
- 22. The method of claim 14 further comprising mapping data in the data frame transmitted from the sending device in accordance with a transparent generic framing procedure.
- 23. The method of claim 14 further comprising mapping data in the data frame transmitted from the sending device in accordance with a frame mapped generic framing procedure.
- 24. A method for extending the reach of a data communication channel and providing subrate data transfer, the data communication channel having an ingress flow control interception device and an egress flow control interception device, the method comprising:
transmitting a data frame from a sending device to the ingress flow control interception device; transmitting the data frame through the data communication channel from the ingress flow control interception device to the egress flow control interception device; transmitting a first receiver ready primitive signal to the sending device in response to the transmission of the data frame through the data communication channel; and transmitting the data frame from the egress flow control interception device to a receiving device.
- 25. The method of claim 24 further comprising transmitting a second receiver ready primitive signal to the egress flow control device to indicate the availability of the receiving device to receive another data frame.
- 26. A flow control interception device for providing subrate data transfer, the flow control interception device comprising an ingress buffer to store a portion of data received from a sending device transmitting at a first data rate and to transmit the received data through the data communication channel at a second data rate, wherein the first data rate exceeds the second data rate.
- 27. The flow control interception device of claim 26 wherein the ingress buffer has a capacity that is equal to or greater than the buffer-to-buffer credit value defined between the sending device and a receiving device.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. patent application serial No. 60/423,904, filed Nov. 5, 2002, titled “Method and System for Extending the Reach of a Fiber Channel Using a Flow Control Interception Mechanism”, the entirety of which provisional application is incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60423904 |
Nov 2002 |
US |