RANDOM DATA COMPRESSION SCHEME IN A NETWORK DIAGNOSTIC COMPONENT

Abstract

A network diagnostic component or device that is placed in-line between a first and second node. The diagnostic component or device is used to compress a random data signal. For example, the first node may communicate with the second node using a random data signal that includes random data units that represent a first data unit. In some embodiments, the random data signal may be of the SAS/SATA protocol. The network diagnostic component may receive the random data signal and associate at least one random data unit with identifier that is indicative of the first data unit. This random data unit may be recorded in a memory. A representation of the random data units that are different from the random data unit associated with the identifier is also recorded in the memory.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a network including a network diagnostic component placed in-line between two network nodes;

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed view of a particular embodiment of the network diagnostic component of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for a network diagnostic component placed in-line between two nodes to compress a random data stream; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an additional method for a network diagnostic component placed in-line between two nodes to compress a random data stream.

Claims

1. A method for a network diagnostic component that is placed in-line between first and second nodes in a network to compress network traffic, the method comprising: an act of receiving a network data stream for communication between the first and second nodes, wherein the network data stream comprises at least one or more random data units that each represent an instance of a first data unit;an act of associating at least one of the random data units with an identifier for the first data unit;an act of recording the identifier in a memory; andan act of recording in the memory a representation indicative of a count of a total number of the at least one or more random data units.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the network data stream further comprises the first data unit, the method further comprising: an act of recording the first data unit in the memory.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein recording in the memory a representation indicative of a count of a total number of the at least one or more random data units comprises: an act of recording a repeat count record in the memory.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: an act of displaying the contents of the memory on a display device.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the network diagnostic component is a SAS/SATA network diagnostic component.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first data unit is one of the following primitive Dwords: SAS Idle, SATA_HOLD, SATA_HOLDA, SATA_PMREQP, SATA_PMREQS, SATA_R_ERR, SATA_R—IP, SATA_R_OK, SATA_R_RDY, SATA_SYNC, SATA_WTRM, or SATA_X_RDY.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising an act of associating the identifier with a non-random data unit that is different from the first data unit.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising: an act of using the identifier to identify the first data unit.

9. A network diagnostic device placed in-line between first and second nodes in a network comprising: a first module configured to receive a network data stream for communication between the first and second nodes, wherein the network data stream comprises at least one or more random data units that each represent an instance of a first data unit;a second module configured to associate at least one of the random data units with an identifier that is indicative of the first data unit;a third module configured to record the identifier in a memory; anda fourth module configured to generate a record to be recorded in the memory of a representation indicative of a count of a total number of the at least one or more random data units.

10. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the first and second nodes are SAS/SATA nodes and the network diagnostic component is a SAS/SATA network component.

11. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the network diagnostic device is one of a bit error rate tester, a protocol analyzer, a generator, a jammer, and a monitor.

12. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the first module is a state machine.

13. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the second and third modules are a trace formatting/compression engine.

14. The network diagnostic component in accordance with claim 9, wherein the second and third modules are the same module.

15. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the memory is a capture buffer.

16. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the fourth module is a compression counter.

17. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the first data unit is one of the following primitive Dwords: SAS Idle, SATA_HOLD, SATA_HOLDA, SATA_PMREQP, SATA_PMREQS, SATA_R_ERR, SATA_R_IP, SATA_R_OK, SATA_R_RDY, SATA_SYNC, SATA_WTRM, or SATA_X_RDY.

18. The network diagnostic device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the network diagnostic device is further configured to use the identifier to determine the first data unit.

19. A method for a network diagnostic component that is placed in-line between first and second nodes in a network to compress random network traffic, the method comprising: an act of receiving a network data stream for communication between the first and second nodes, wherein the network data stream comprises at least one or more random data units that each represent an instance of a first data unit;an act of generating a representation in a memory of the at least one or more random data units; andan act of associating an identifier with the representation, wherein the identifier identifies the first data unit represented by the random data units.

20. The method in accordance with claim 19, wherein the representation in the memory is a count record of the random data units.

21. The method in accordance with claim 19, wherein the first and second nodes are SAS/SATA nodes and the network diagnostic component is a SAS/SATA network component.