Compute express link over ethernet in composable data centers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12107770-B2
Application number	US-202318122015-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2023
Priority date	Oct 11, 2021
Publication date	Oct 1, 2024
Grant date	Oct 1, 2024

Abstract

Techniques for sending Compute Express Link (CXL) packets over Ethernet (CXL-E) in a composable data center that may include disaggregated, composable servers. The techniques may include receiving, from a first server device, a request to bind the first server device with a multiple logical device (MLD) appliance. Based at least in part on the request, a first CXL-E connection may be established for the first server device to export a computing resource to the MLD appliance. The techniques may also include receiving, from the MLD appliance, an indication that the computing resource is available, and receiving, from a second server device, a second request for the computing resource. Based at least in part on the second request, a second CXL-E connection may be established for the second server device to consume or otherwise utilize the computing resource of the first server device via the MLD appliance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, from a first server device, a request to bind the first server device with a multiple logical device (MLD) appliance;
receiving, from the MLD appliance through an auto-discovery sequence, information about one or more attributes of the MLD appliance;
selecting, from among multiple MLD appliances, the MLD appliance for binding with the first server device, the selecting based at least in part on the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence;
binding the first server device with the MLD appliance using a compute express link (CXL) over ethernet (CXL-E) protocol, the first server device to export a computing resource to the MLD appliance for utilization by a second server device; and
binding the second server device with the MLD appliance using the CXL-E protocol.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second server device utilizes the computing resource exported to the MLD appliance by the first server device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein binding the second server device with the MLD appliance is based at least in part on the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence comprises an indication that the MLD appliance is a topologically nearest MLD appliance to the first server device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from the MLD appliance, an indication that the computing resource is available to be exported to other server devices;
receiving, from the second server device, a request for the computing resource; and
selecting the MLD appliance for binding with the second server device for providing the computing resource.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the request for the computing resource comprises a request for an amount of the computing resource, and wherein the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance comprises the amount of the computing resource available through the MLD appliance.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing resource exported by the first server device comprises at least one of memory, processing, or compute.

8. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first server device, a request to bind the first server device with a multiple logical device (MLD) appliance;
receiving, from the MLD appliance through an auto-discovery sequence, information about one or more attributes of the MLD appliance;
selecting, from among multiple MLD appliances, the MLD appliance for binding with the first server device, the selecting based at least in part on the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence;
binding the first server device with the MLD appliance using a compute express link (CXL) over ethernet (CXL-E) protocol, the first server device to export a computing resource to the MLD appliance for utilization by a second server device; and
binding the second server device with the MLD appliance using the CXL-E protocol.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second server device utilizes the computing resource exported to the MLD appliance by the first server device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein binding the second server device with the MLD appliance is based at least in part on the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence comprises an indication that the MLD appliance is a topologically nearest MLD appliance to the first server device.

12. The system of claim 8 , the operations further comprising:
receiving, from the MLD appliance, an indication that the computing resource is available to be exported to other server devices;
receiving, from the second server device, a request for the computing resource; and
selecting the MLD appliance for binding with the second server device for providing the computing resource.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the request for the computing resource comprises a request for an amount of the computing resource, and wherein the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance comprises the amount of the computing resource available through the MLD appliance.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computing resource exported by the first server device comprises at least one of memory, processing, or compute.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first server device, a request to bind the first server device with a multiple logical device (MLD) appliance;
receiving, from the MLD appliance through an auto-discovery sequence, information about one or more attributes of the MLD appliance;
selecting, from among multiple MLD appliances, the MLD appliance for binding with the first server device, the selecting based at least in part on the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence;
binding the first server device with the MLD appliance using a compute express link (CXL) over ethernet (CXL-E) protocol, the first server device to export a computing resource to the MLD appliance for utilization by a second server device; and
binding the second server device with the MLD appliance using the CXL-E protocol.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the second server device utilizes the computing resource exported to the MLD appliance by the first server device.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein binding the second server device with the MLD appliance is based at least in part on the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance received through the auto-discovery sequence comprises an indication that the MLD appliance is a topologically nearest MLD appliance to the first server device.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
receiving, from the MLD appliance, an indication that the computing resource is available to be exported to other server devices;
receiving, from the second server device, a request for the computing resource; and
selecting the MLD appliance for binding with the second server device for providing the computing resource.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 , wherein the request for the computing resource comprises a request for an amount of the computing resource, and wherein the information about the one or more attributes of the MLD appliance comprises the amount of the computing resource available through the MLD appliance.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Banerjee Ayan
• Sivakolundu Ramesh
• Kar Chakradhar
• Borikar Sagar
• Thakar Anant

Classifications

• H04L47/829

  Topology based · CPC title

• H04L69/08

  Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion · CPC title

• H04L47/722

  at the destination endpoint, e.g. reservation of terminal resources or buffer space · CPC title

• H04L67/568

  Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching · CPC title

• H04L47/822

  Collecting or measuring resource availability data · CPC title