Patent ID: 11870682
Assignee: MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES, LTD.
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 6:
7. A communication system, comprising:
a network comprising multiple subnetworks interconnected by trunk links, each subnetwork comprising multiple switches, which are configured to communicate via at least first and second virtual lanes and are arranged in a bipartite topology comprising an upper tier containing upper-tier switches, which are connected to one or more of the trunk links, and a lower tier containing lower-tier switches, which are connected by local links to the upper-tier switches; and
a management processor, which is configured to define primary routes for delivery of data packets in the network, to partition the local links in each subnetwork into at least first and second groups, and for each local link that is a part of one or more of the primary routes and connects a first upper-tier switch to a first lower-tier switch in a given subnetwork, to define a corresponding detour route passing through a first local link belonging to the first group from the first upper-tier switch to a second lower-tier switch within the given subnetwork, and from the second lower-tier switch over a second local link to a second upper-tier switch in the given subnetwork, and from the second upper-tier switch over a third local link belonging to the second group to the first lower-tier switch,
wherein the switches in the given subnetwork are configured, upon a failure of the local link connecting the first upper-tier switch to the first lower-tier switch, to reroute the data packets arriving at the first upper-tier switch for transmission to the first lower-tier switch so that the data packets pass through the corresponding detour route to the first lower-tier switch, while transmitting the data packets over the second and third local links via the second virtual lane.