Patent ID: 6950428

Claim:
In a system area network (SAN) including a source node and a destination node coupled by a network fabric, with the system for transferring data between the source node and the destination node, with the network fabric coupling the source and destination nodes including first and second routers having multiple input ports coupled to multiple output ports by a cross-bar switch, and with the SAN implementing data transfers as a sequence of request/response packet pair transactions, with each request and response packet containing a header including a destination field, and with the SAN for implementing ordered transactions requiring that packets be received in the order transmitted and unordered transactions where packets may be received out of order, a system for implementing adaptive sets of lanes between said first and second routers, said system comprising: configuration logic at said first router for configuring an adaptive set including multiple lanes, with a the control logic associating a designated input port with the adaptive set and associating a unique output port with each lane of the adaptive set; routing option control logic at said source node for setting adaptive control bits in said destination field to specify whether the packet could use the routing capabilities of the adaptive set or should be routed down a specific lane of the adaptive set; routing control logic at said first router, responsive to the destination field of a packet received at said designated input port, for assigning a specific output port to said packet, and, if said specific output port is associated with said adaptive set, adaptively assigning a port associated with a lane in the adaptive set if the adaptive control bits specify adaptive routing or deterministically specifying said specific output port if said adaptive control bits specify determinist routing.