Systems and methods of inserting idles within packets to reduce latency

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12301359-B2
Application number	US-202318511952-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2023
Priority date	Jun 5, 2023
Publication date	May 13, 2025
Grant date	May 13, 2025

Abstract

Devices, systems, methods, and processes for transmitting and receiving one or more data packets are described herein. A device may face an internal non-deterministic delay in processing causing a gap or an interruption during transmission of the data packet. During the gap, the device can transmit one or more Intra-Packet Idle (IPI) words between the transmission of the data packet. The IPI words can be ignored or discarded by a receiver. The device may transmit the data packet into multiple parts by transmitting the IPI words between the parts. The receiver can receive the parts of the data packet and the IPI words and retrieve the data packet based on the parts of the data packet. The device may set a configurable threshold value indicative of a maximum number of the IPI words that can be transmitted during the gap of the interruption, such that the receiver can efficiently identify and discard a runt packet. The device does not require a buffer to fetch and store the data packet prior to the transmission, thereby eliminating a latency caused by the buffer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
a processor;
a memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and
a transmission logic, configured to:
receive a bitstream corresponding to a data packet;
detect an interruption in a reception of the bitstream;
generate an intra-packet idle word based on the interruption;
encode the intra-packet idle word to generate an encoded intra-packet idle word; and
transmit a physical idle signal indicative of the encoded intra-packet idle word.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the memory is configured to store a configurable threshold value indicative of a maximum number of times of transmission of the physical idle signal during the interruption.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the transmission logic is further configured to:
transmit the physical idle signal based on the configurable threshold value during the interruption;
determine if the reception of the bitstream resumes after transmitting the physical idle signal; and
transmit a physical error signal if the reception of the bitstream does not resume.

4. The device of claim 2 , wherein, when the configurable threshold value is zero, the transmission logic is further configured to transmit the physical idle signal repeatedly until the reception of the bitstream resumes.

5. The device of claim 2 , wherein the configurable threshold value is greater than a maximum expected latency for the data packet.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the intra-packet idle word includes a predetermined bit sequence.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the transmission logic is further configured to select a bit sequence for the intra-packet idle word based on a required error correction metric.

8. The device of claim 3 , wherein the transmission logic is further configured to determine an encoding standard corresponding to a type of a physical channel.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the transmission logic is further configured to encode at least one of: the intra-packet idle word or the data packet based on the encoding standard.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the transmission logic is further configured transmit a physical data signal indicative of an encoded data packet.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the physical idle signal, the physical data signal, and the physical error signal are transmitted at a physical (PHY) layer in a communication network, and wherein the data packet is received from a Media Access Control (MAC) layer in the communication network.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device operates at a Reconciliation Sublayer (RS) in the communication network.

13. A device, comprising:
a processor;
a memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and
a reception logic, configured to:
initiate a receive state;
receive a first physical data signal;
decode the first physical data signal to retrieve a first part of a data packet;
receive a physical idle signal;
decode the physical idle signal to retrieve an intra-packet idle word;
maintain the receive state based on the intra-packet idle word;
receive a second physical data signal;
decode the second physical data signal to retrieve a second part of the data packet; and
retrieve the data packet based on the first part of the data packet and the second part of the data packet.

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the reception logic is further configured to:
receive a physical error signal after receiving the first physical data signal, wherein the physical error signal is indicative of a runt packet; and
discard the first part of the data packet based on the physical error signal.

15. A method, comprising:
receiving a bitstream corresponding to a data packet;
detecting an interruption in a reception of the bitstream;
generating an intra-packet idle word based on the interruption;
encoding the intra-packet idle word for generating an encoded intra-packet idle word; and
transmitting a physical idle signal indicative of the encoded intra-packet idle word.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising storing a configurable threshold value indicative of a maximum number of times of transmission of the physical idle signal during the interruption.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
transmitting the physical idle signal based on the configurable threshold value during the interruption;
determining if the reception of the bitstream resumes after transmitting the physical idle signal; and
transmitting a physical error signal if the reception of the bitstream does not resume.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising selecting a bit sequence for the intra-packet idle word based on a required error correction metric.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
determining an encoding standard corresponding to a type of a physical channel; and
encoding at least one of: the intra-packet idle word or the data packet based on the encoding standard.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising transmitting a physical data signal indicative of an encoded data packet.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Kadosh Aviran
• Issa Mohammad
• Lawson Matthew Todd

Classifications

• H04L25/4915

  using pattern inversion or substitution (H04L25/4908 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04L1/1607 Primary

  Details of the supervisory signal · CPC title

• H04L1/188

  Time-out mechanisms · CPC title

• H04L1/0047

  Decoding adapted to other signal detection operation (in conjunction with sequence estimation or equalization H04L25/03286) · CPC title

• H04L1/1678 Primary

  where the control information is for timing, e.g. time stamps · CPC title