Switching apparatus

Abstract

A switching apparatus for use in a network includes a packet reception processing unit which generates a reply packet as a response to a request packet having a virtual local area network tag and transmitted for a ping test via a network to the switching apparatus, and sets the same priority class in a virtual local area network tag of the reply packet as that in the virtual local area network tag of the request packet, wherein the switching apparatus performs priority control on the reply packet based on the priority class in the virtual local area network tag of the reply packet.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary network which is built up by connecting multiple layer 2 switching apparatuses;

FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary process of receiving data packets in a switching apparatus having a quality of service (QoS) function;

FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary process of transmitting an ICMP request packet in a switching apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary process of receiving an ICMP request packet in a switching apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary process in a switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention of receiving an ICMP request packet addressed to the switching apparatus itself;

FIG. 6 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary process of transmitting an ICMP request packet in a switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary process in a switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention of receiving ICMP request packets addressed to the switching apparatus itself;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary packet transmission processing block of a switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary packet reception/reply processing block of a switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an example of a priority determining table;

FIG. 11 is a drawing illustrating an exemplary configuration of a priority control (QoS) unit;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process performed by a statistical information counting unit;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process performed by an input packet checking unit;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process performed by an ICMP packet reception processing unit;

FIG. 15A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary process of retrieving statistical information according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15B is a drawing illustrating an exemplary display format of retrieved statistical information according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary process of performing a batch test according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 16B is a drawing illustrating an exemplary display format of the batch test results.

Claims

1. A switching apparatus for use in a network, comprising: a packet reception processing unit which generates a reply packet as a response to a request packet having a virtual local area network tag and transmitted for a ping test via a network to the switching apparatus, and sets a same priority class in a virtual local area network tag of the reply packet as that in the virtual local area network tag of the request packet, wherein the switching apparatus performs priority control on the reply packet based on the priority class in the virtual local area network tag of the reply packet.

2. The switching apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a request packet generating unit which generates a request packet used for a ping test and having a virtual local area network tag, and sets a source port, a destination port, and a priority class for the request packet as specified by a ping command, wherein the switching apparatus performs priority control on the request packet based on the priority class in the virtual local area network tag of the request packet.

3. The switching apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the packet reception processing unit generates a reply packet only when the request packet has a specific virtual local area network ID in the virtual local area network tag.

4. The switching apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a statistical information management unit which manages number-of-packets information separately for request/reply packets and normal data packets.

5. The switching apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a ping response time measuring unit which, when a reply packet addressed to the switching apparatus is received, measures ping response time between generation of a request packet requesting said reply packet and reception of said reply packet.

6. The switching apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the request packet generating unit, when the priority class is not specified by the ping command, generates a same number of request packets as that of priority classes, each request packet having a different priority class selected from the priority classes.

7. The switching apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the request packet generating unit, when the destination port is specified and the source port is not specified by the ping command, searches for ports having a same virtual local area network ID as that of the destination port, and generates a same number of request packets as that of ports found by the search, each request packet having the same destination port and a different source port selected from the ports found by the search.

8. The switching apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the request packet generating unit, when the destination port is specified and the source port is not specified by the ping command, searches for ports having a same virtual local area network ID as that of the destination port, and generates a same number of request packets as that of ports found by the search, each request packet having the same destination port and a different source port selected from the ports found by the search.

9. A switching apparatus for use in a network, comprising: a packet reception processing unit which, in response to a request packet having a virtual local area network tag having a priority class stored therein, generates a reply packet having a virtual local area network tag having a priority class, and sets the priority class in the reply packet virtual local area network tag to be the same as the priority class in the request packet virtual local area network tag.