Method and system for data flow multicasting
View Patent ↗A system and method of transmitting multiple output messages from a single input message system where the system is keeping the messages in order by correlating the output messages with the input messages. For each output message, an indicator is associated with the output message indicating whether this output message is the last message being generated for the given input message. This allows multicasting to occur in a system where the output is matched to the input by allowing multiple output messages to be associated with a single input message.
1. A system for processing information units in a distributed processing environment where some but not all of the information units are to be sent to a plurality of different addresses, the system comprising:
a substrate including a plurality of processors, each processor for independently receiving an input information unit and creating an output information unit;
a dispatch unit carried on the substrate and coupled to the plurality of processors for receiving an input information unit and transferring the input information unit to one of said plurality of processors;
a completion unit for receiving the output information units from the plurality of processors and transmitting the output information units in an order corresponding to the input information units were received by the dispatch unit; and
a system for allowing the processing units to generate a plurality of output messages from a single input information unit, the system including an indicator created by the processing unit for each output information unit indicating whether the output information unit is the last output information unit created for the single input information unit, with the completion unit responding to the indicator and processing each message from a single input information unit until it processes an output information unit indicating that it is the last output information unit for the input information unit.
2. A system of the type described in claim 1 wherein the system for indicating whether the output information unit is the last output information unit for a single input information unit also includes a system for putting a sequence number on each output information unit created from a single input information unit.
3. A system of the type described in claim 1 further including a system for preventing the output of one processor from being passed from the completion unit until previously received messages from the same data flow have been processed, whereby later information units from the same data flow are not processed from the completion unit before earlier information units from the same data flow.
4. A system of the type described in claim 2 wherein the sequence number for each multicast message is incremented each time a new destination is provided.