Patent ID: 6674718
Filing Date: 2004-01-06
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for controlling a plurality of pipes in a computer network including at least one processor for a switch, the at least one processor having a queue, the plurality of pipes utilizing the queue for transmitting traffic through the switch, the method comprising the steps of:(a) allowing a minimum flow and a maximum flow to be set for each of the plurality of pipes; (b) determining if excess bandwidth exists for the queue; (c) determining a queue level for the queue; (d) determining an offered rate of the plurality of packets to the queue; (e) controlling a global transmit fraction of the plurality of packets to the queue, based on the queue level and the offered rate, so that the global transmit fraction and the queue level are critically damped if the queue level is between at least a first queue level and a second queue level; (f) setting a transmit fraction for a flow for a pipe of the plurality of pipes to be a minimum of the global transmit fraction and a differential transmit fraction, the differential transmit fraction capable of linearly increasing the flow based on the minimum flow or the maximum flow if excess bandwidth exists and if the flow for the pipe of the plurality of pipes is less than the maximum flow for the pipe and capable of exponentially decreasing the flow for the pipe of the plurality of pipes based on the minimum flow or the maximum flow if excess bandwidth does not exist and the flow is greater than the minimum flow for the pipe, such that the traffic through the queue is stable; (g) controlling transmission of traffic to the queue based on the transmit fraction; and (h) utilizing a scheduler to control traffic from the queue.