Negotiating a transmit wake time

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10860079-B2
Application number	US-201916542193-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 15, 2019
Priority date	Mar 17, 2009
Publication date	Dec 8, 2020
Grant date	Dec 8, 2020

Abstract

Includes receiving, from a link partner, a message specifying a link partner receive wake time and resolving to a transmit wake time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An Ethernet physical layer transceiver (PHY) circuitry for use in a duplex frame communication with a remote link partner, the Ethernet PHY circuitry also to communicate, when the Ethernet PHY circuitry is in operation, with a local medium access controller (MAC) circuitry, the Ethernet PHY circuitry comprising:
a physical coding sublayer (PCS) circuitry for use in communicating with the local MAC circuitry;
a transmitter circuitry and a receiver circuitry for use in the duplex frame communication;
wherein, when the Ethernet PHY circuitry is in the operation:
the transmitter circuitry, during at least one negotiation with the remote link partner, is to transmit frame information for use in determining, at least in part, (1) capability of the Ethernet PHY circuitry to enter at least one power saving mode of operation associated, at least in part, with the duplex frame communication, and (2) a requested wait time that the transmitter circuitry is requesting to wait, prior to resuming data transmission to the remote link partner, following an exit of the Ethernet PHY circuitry from the at least one power saving mode of operation;
the transmitter circuitry is to wait a negotiated wait time, prior to the resuming of the data transmission, following the exit of the Ethernet PHY circuitry from the at least one power saving mode of operation, the negotiated wait time being determined based, at least in part, upon the requested wait time and another requested wait time, the another requested wait time to be requested during the at least one negotiation by the remote link partner; and
when the Ethernet PHY circuitry is in the at least one power saving mode of operation, the Ethernet PHY circuitry is to implement at least one power saving policy determined, at least in part, by a programmable circuitry.

2. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 1 , wherein:
the requested wait time and the another requested wait time are to be transmitted, at least in part, via link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) type-length-value (TLV) field values; and
the resuming of the data transmission is to occur after a wake signal transmission from the transmitter circuitry to the remote link partner.

3. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 2 , wherein:
the programmable circuitry is external, at least in part, to both the local MAC circuitry and the Ethernet PHY circuitry.

4. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 2 , wherein:
the programmable circuitry is external, at least in part, to both the local MAC circuitry and the PCS circuitry.

5. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 3 , wherein:
the programmable circuitry is comprised, at least in part, in a processor; and
the programable circuitry is to be used in determining, at least in part, the negotiated wait time.

6. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 5 , wherein:
the Ethernet PHY circuitry and the local MAC circuitry are comprised in a network switch; and
the network switch comprises the processor.

7. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 6 , wherein:
the network switch also comprises a packet processing circuitry to perform switching-related operations.

8. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 7 , wherein:
the switching-related operations comprise forwarding lookup operations.

9. The Ethernet PHY circuitry of claim 8 , wherein:
the network switch is comprised in an application specific integrated circuitry (ASIC).

10. A method implemented using an Ethernet physical layer transceiver (PHY) circuitry, the Ethernet PHY circuitry being for use in a duplex frame communication with a remote link partner, the Ethernet PHY circuitry also to communicate, when the Ethernet PHY circuitry is in operation, with a local medium access controller (MAC) circuitry, the Ethernet PHY circuitry comprising a physical coding sublayer (PCS) circuitry, a transmitter circuitry, and a receiver circuitry, the PCS circuitry being for use in communicating with the local MAC circuitry, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry being for use in the duplex frame communication, the method comprising:
transmitting, from the transmitter circuitry during at least one negotiation with the remote link partner, frame information for use in determining, at least in part, (1) capability of the Ethernet PHY circuitry to enter at least one power saving mode of operation associated, at least in part, with the frame communication, and (2) a requested wait time that the transmitter circuitry is requesting to wait, prior to resuming data transmission to the remote link partner, following an exit of the Ethernet PHY circuitry from the at least one power saving mode of operation;
waiting, by the transmitter circuitry, a negotiated wait time, prior to the resuming of the data transmission, following the exit of the Ethernet PHY circuitry from the at least one power saving mode of operation, the negotiated wait time being determining based, at least in part, upon the requested wait time and another requested wait time, the another requested wait time to be requested by the remote link partner during the at least one negotiation; and
implementing, by the Ethernet PHY circuitry, when the Ethernet PHY circuitry is in the at least one power saving mode of operation, at least one power saving policy being determined, at least in part, by a programmable circuitry.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the requested wait time and the another requested wait time are to be transmitted, at least in part, via link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) type-length-value (TLV) field values; and
the resuming of the data transmission is to occur after a wake signal transmission from the transmitter circuitry to the remote link partner.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the programmable circuitry is external, at least in part, to both the local MAC circuitry and the Ethernet PHY circuitry.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the programmable circuitry is external, at least in part, to both the local MAC circuitry and the PCS circuitry.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the programmable circuitry is comprised, at least in part, in a processor; and
the programmable circuitry is to be used in determining, at least in part, the negotiated wait time.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the Ethernet PHY circuitry and the local MAC circuitry are comprised in a network switch; and
the network switch comprises the processor.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:
the network switch also comprises a packet processing circuitry to perform switching-related operations.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein:
the switching-related operations comprise forwarding lookup operations.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein:
the network switch is comprised in an application specific integrated circuitry (ASIC).

19. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for execution, at least in part, by an Ethernet physical layer transceiver (PHY) circuitry, the Ethernet PHY circuitry being for use in a duplex frame communication with a remote link partner, the Ethernet PHY circuitry also to communicate, when the Ethernet PHY circuitry is in operation, with a local medium access controller (MAC) circuitry, the Ethernet PHY circuitry comprising a physical coding sublayer (PCS) circuitry, a transmitter circuitry, and a receiver circuitry, the PCS circuitry being for use in communicating with the local MAC circuitry, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry being for use in the duplex frame com

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Wertheimer Aviad
• Hays Robert

Classifications

• Y02D30/00

  Reducing energy consumption in communication networks · CPC title

• G06F1/3209

  Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections · CPC title

• G06F1/3203 Primary

  Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode · CPC title