Patent ID: 8238239
Filing Date: 2012-08-07
Classification: H04L,Y02D

Abstract:
1. A flow control method comprising: transmitting a plurality of packets between a backplane switch and a circuit board operatively coupled to the backplane, the plurality of packets having an inter-packet gap disposed between neighboring packets; detecting a congestion condition at the backplane switch based on an excessive accumulation of packets at the backplane switch; and increasing the length of the inter-packet gap to decrease packet rate, wherein the increased length is selected based on severity of the congestion condition of at least one buffer associated with the backplane switch; wherein transmitting the plurality of packets and increasing the length of the inter-packet gap are performed by the circuit board operatively coupled to the backplane in response to a signal from the backplane switch, the signal being included in a packet having a number of fields, including an IPG_Step field indicative of congestion severity, and/or a priority field indicative of packet priority.