Controller integration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9256560-B2
Application number	US-68738210-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 14, 2010
Priority date	Jul 29, 2009
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

Roughly described, a data processing system comprises a central processing unit and a split network interface functionality, the split network interface functionality comprising: a first sub-unit collocated with the central processing unit and configured to at least partially form a series of network data packets for transmission to a network endpoint by generating data link layer information for each of those packets; and a second sub-unit external to the central processing unit and coupled to the central processing unit via an interconnect, the second sub-unit being configured to physically signal the series of network data packets over a network.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A data processing system comprising a central processing unit and a split network interface functionality, the split network interface functionality comprising:
a first sub-unit collocated with or part of the central processing unit and configured to partially form a series of network data packets for transmission to an endpoint of the network by generating data link layer information for each of those packets according to a data link layer protocol of the network; and
a second sub-unit external to the central processing unit and coupled to the central processing unit via an interconnect having a data link layer protocol different from that of the network, the second sub-unit being configured to receive the partially formed network data packets and to physically signal the series of network data packets over the network using the data link layer information generated by the first sub-unit.

2. A data processing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first sub-unit is configured to encapsulate each network data packet of the series in one or more interconnect data packets in accordance with the data protocol in use over the interconnect.

3. A data processing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first sub-unit is configured to transmit the interconnect data packets to the second sub-unit so as to cause the second sub-unit to signal the respective network data packets over the network.

4. A data processing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second sub-unit is configured to complete the formation of each of the series of network data packets at the data link layer of the network protocol in use over the network.

5. A data processing system as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the second sub-unit is configured to complete the formation of each of the series of network data packets at the data link layer by calculating one or more checksums for each network data packet.

6. A data processing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second sub-unit is configured to physically signal the series of completed data packets over the network in accordance with the physical layer requirements of the network protocol in use over the network.

7. A data processing system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a memory and/or cache coupled to the central processing unit and, at the central processing unit, a memory management unit configured to provide access to the memory and/or cache for the central processing unit and the first sub-unit.

8. A data processing system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the memory and/or cache is configured to hold a transmit queue comprising data for transmission over the network and the first sub-unit is configured to access the transmit queue by means of a read request to the memory management unit and form the series of network data packets using the data for transmission over the network.

9. A data processing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second sub-unit is operable to receive a series of network data packets over the network and the first sub-unit is configured to at least partially process each received network data packet at the data link layer of the network so as to extract data carried within the network data packet.

10. A data processing system as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising a memory and/or cache coupled to the central processing unit and, at the central processing unit, a memory management unit configured to provide access to the memory and/or cache for the central processing unit and the first sub-unit,
wherein the first sub-unit is configured to store at the memory a forwarding table comprising information such as to allow the first sub-unit to, for each received network data packet, route extracted data to one or more receive queues at the memory and/or another network device in dependence on the content of the received network data packet.

11. A data processing system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the second sub-unit is configured to encapsulate each received network data packet in one or more interconnect data packets in accordance with the data protocol in use over the data link of the interconnect proximal to the second sub-unit.

12. A data processing system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the second sub-unit is configured to transmit the interconnect data packets to the first sub-unit so as to cause the first sub-unit to at least partially process each received network data packet at the data link layer of the network and extract the data carried within received network data packet.

13. A data processing system comprising:
a central processing unit, the central processing unit including a network interface controller, the network interface controller being configured to form intermediate data units by at least partially framing at the data link layer data for transmission over a network in accordance with a network protocol, each intermediate data unit including a destination network address for the data for transmission;
a memory coupled to the central processing unit;
a media interface connected to the network and configured to transmit fully-formed data packets over the network; and
a first interconnect extending between the central processing unit and the media interface, the interconnect being formed of one or more data links;
wherein the network interface controller is further configured to encapsulate said intermediate data units of the network protocol in interconnect data packets for transmission over the first interconnect, and the media interface is configured to extract the intermediate data units from the interconnect data packets received over the first interconnect and process the intermediate data units at the physical layer so as to complete the formation of data packets in accordance with the network protocol.

14. A data processing system as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the network interface controller is configured to encapsulate each intermediate data unit in one or more interconnect data packets in accordance with the data protocol in use over the data link of the first interconnect proximal to the central processing unit.

15. A data processing system as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the network interface controller is configured to cause the one or more interconnect data packets to be transmitted to the media interface so as to cause the media interface to transmit a fully-formed network data packet over the network.

16. A data processing system as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the network interface controller is configured to write an encapsulation header to each of the interconnect data packets, the encapsulation header comprising information such as to allow the media interface to reassemble the respective intermediate data unit from the interconnect data packets.

17. A data processing system as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the first interconnect comprises two data links:
a first data link extending between the central processing unit and a translation unit; and
a second data link extending between the translation unit and the media interface,
the translation unit being configured to translate interconnect data packets framed in accordance with the data protocol in use over the first data link into interconnect data packets framed in accordance with the data protocol in use over the second data link, and vice versa.

18. A data processing system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the translation unit is configured to translate interconnect data packets by:
removing framing data of the data protocol in use over the first data link a

Assignees

• Pope Steven L
• Riddoch David
• Roberts Derek
• Solarflare Communications Inc

Inventors

• Pope Steven L
• Riddoch David
• Roberts Derek

Classifications

• G06F13/385 Primary

  for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices · CPC title

• H04L69/22

  Parsing or analysis of headers · CPC title

• H04L12/4633

  Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling · CPC title

• G06F13/4295

  using an embedded synchronisation · CPC title

• H04L61/2596

  Translation of addresses of the same type other than IP, e.g. translation from MAC to MAC addresses · CPC title