Bandwidth allocation for link aggregation

1. A method for establishing a connection with a guaranteed bandwidth for transmitting data between first and second endpoints, the method comprising:

defining a logical link comprising a plurality of parallel physical links between the endpoints;

determining a measure of fluctuation that occurs in a rate of transmission of the data over the physical links when the data are distributed for transmission among the physical links, wherein the fluctuation is due to a non-uniform distribution of load among the parallel physical links comprised in the logical link;

allocating a link bandwidth on each of the physical communication links for use in conveying the data between the endpoints such that the allocated link bandwidth comprises a predefined safety margin based on the measure of fluctuation, so that a sum of the allocated link bandwidth over the plurality of the parallel physical links is substantially greater than the guaranteed bandwidth of the connection; and

conveying the data over the logical link by distributing the data for transmission among the physical links in accordance with the allocated link bandwidth.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein defining the logical link comprises defining a link aggregation group in accordance with IEEE standard 802.3.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the physical links comprise Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) links, and wherein defining the logical link comprises grouping the physical links for Inverse Multiplexing over ATM (IMA).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein defining the logical link comprises defining a multi-link connection in accordance with a Point-to-Point (PPP) protocol.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the data comprise a sequence of data frames having respective headers, and wherein distributing the data comprises applying a hash function to the headers to select a respective one of the physical links over which to transmit each of the data frames.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the guaranteed bandwidth is a bandwidth B, and the link bandwidth allocated to each of the links is no less than F*B/N, wherein F is a factor determined by the measure of fluctuation.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the measure of fluctuation comprises finding a standard deviation of the rate of transmission.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the measure of fluctuation comprises finding a difference between an average level of utilization of all of the plurality of parallel physical links and a maximum level of utilization of any one of the physical links.

9. Apparatus for establishing a connection with a guaranteed bandwidth for transmitting data between first and, second endpoints over a logical link that includes a plurality of parallel physical links between the endpoints, the apparatus comprising:

a controller, which is adapted to receive a measure of fluctuation that occurs in a rate of transmission of the data over the physical links when the data are distributed for transmission among the physical links, wherein the fluctuation is due to a non-uniform distribution of load among the parallel physical links comprised in the logical link, and to allocate a link bandwidth on each of the physical communication links for use in conveying the data between the endpoints such that the allocated link bandwidth comprises a predefined safety margin based on the measure of fluctuation, so that a sum of the allocated link bandwidth over the plurality of the parallel physical links is substantially greater than the guaranteed bandwidth of the connection;

a distributor, which is adapted to determine a distribution of the data for transmission among the physical links in accordance with the allocated link bandwidth; and

data transmission circuitry, which is adapted to transmit the data over the physical links in accordance with the distribution.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the logical link comprises a link aggregation group in accordance with IEEE standard 802.3.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the physical links comprise Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) links, which are grouped for Inverse Multiplexing over ATM (IMA).

12. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the logical link comprises a multi-link connection in accordance with a Point-to-Point (PPP) protocol.

13. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the data comprise a sequence of data frames having respective headers, and wherein the distributor is adapted to apply a hash function to the headers in order to select a respective one of the physical links over which to transmit each of the data frames.

14. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the guaranteed bandwidth is a bandwidth B, and the link bandwidth allocated to each of the links by the controller is no less than F*B/N, wherein F is a factor determined by the measure of fluctuation.

15. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the measure of fluctuation comprises a standard deviation of the rate of transmission.

16. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the measure of fluctuation comprises a difference between an average level of utilization of all of the plurality of parallel physical links and a maximum level of utilization of any one of the physical links.

17. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the data transmission circuitry comprises a main card and a plurality of line cards, which are connected to the main card by respective traces, the line cards having ports connecting to the physical links and comprising concentrators for multiplexing the data between the physical links and the traces in accordance with the distribution determined by the distributor.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the plurality of line cards comprises at least first and second line cards, and wherein the physical links included in the logical link comprise at least first and second physical links, which are connected respectively to the first and second line cards.