Method for communication between processors
View Patent ↗The invention provides a method and system for communication between processors. Rather than provide an external network connection solely for providing a communication link between CPUs, the present invention utilizes the network devices to transfer information between CPUs. A transmitting network device marks a control packet, which is intended as a communication between CPUs, as control traffic. The receiving network device will determine whether the received control packet is intended for its own CPU and provide the control packet to its CPU if that is the case.
1. A method for communicating between processors of at least two network devices connected within a network, the method comprising:
receiving a control packet marked as control traffic by a transmitting network device according to a next-hop addressing scheme, over a network connection from a transmitting data port of the transmitting network device to a receiving data port of a next network device, wherein the transmitting data port and the receiving data port include hardware ports operable to connect the network device and the next network device, the control packet being one of a plurality of control packets used to discover and configure the network device and the next network device as at least part of a logical network switch;
identifying the control packet as control traffic at the next network device, based on the marking;
determining, at the next network device, whether the control packet is destined for a central processing unit (CPU) of the next network device;
providing the control packet to the CPU of the next network device when it is determined that the control packet is destined for the CPU of the next network device;
updating a local database of the CPU of the next network device using the control packet, to thereby reflect updating of the next-hop addressing scheme; and
forwarding the control packet to an adjacent network device according to the next-hop addressing scheme.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
stopping receipt of a flow of data traffic while the control packet is traveling from the transmitting network device to the next network device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control packet includes at least one of a probe packet, a topology packet, a routing packet, and a configuration packet.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein forwarding the control packet to the adjacent network device according to the next-hop addressing scheme comprises:
discovering a connection of the adjacent network device to the next network device; and
forwarding the control packet to the adjacent network device as an adjacent device to the next network device according to the next-hop addressing scheme.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network device and the next network device are part of a stack of network devices configured to act as the logical network switch within the network and the transmitting data port and the receiving data port include stack ports.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two network devices, including the network device and the next network device, are each nodes of a local area network.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network device and the next network device both include network switching devices configured to route network traffic through the network, including through the network connection.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the network device and the next network device are stacked to form an aggregated network switching device.
9. A network device included within a network of devices, the network device comprising:
at least one central processing unit (CPU) interface for communicating with a CPU; and
at least one stack port connecting the network device to at least one other network device via a network connection and according to a next-hop addressing scheme, thereby forming a stack of network devices configured to act as a logical network switch within the network of devices;
wherein the network device is configured to mark a control packet received from the CPU and transmit the control packet to a receiving network device using the at least one stack port and via the network connection in accordance with the next-hop addressing scheme, the control packet being one of a plurality of control packets used to discover and configure the at least one other network device as part of the logical network switch.
10. The network device of claim 9 , wherein marking the control packet allows the network device to identify the control packet as control traffic.
11. The network device of claim 9 , wherein the network device is configured to receive a second control packet from a previous network device of the stack of network devices, according to the next-hop addressing scheme, and determine whether the second control packet is destined for the CPU, and provides the second control packet to the CPU when it is determined that the second control packet is destined for the CPU.
12. The network device of claim 9 , wherein the control packet comprises at least one of a probe packet, a topology packet, a routing packet, and a configuration packet.
13. The network device of claim 9 , wherein the network device is configured to discover the next network device at an adjacent position within the network to the network device, according to the next-hop addressing scheme.
14. The network device of claim 9 wherein the network device and the at least one other network device are each nodes of a local area network.
15. The network device of claim 9 wherein the network device and the at least one other network device both include network switching devices configured to route network traffic through the network, including through the network connection.
16. A stack of network devices, comprising:
marking means for marking a control packet as control traffic;
transmitting means for transmitting the control packet to a next network device of the stack of network devices, wherein the stack of network devices is configured to act as a logical network switch within the network of devices, the control packet being one of a plurality of control packets used to discover and configure the stack of network devices as the logical network switch;
determining means for determining, at the next network device, whether the control packet is destined for a central processing unit (CPU) of the next network device;
providing means for providing the control packet to the CPU of the next network device when it is determined that the control packet is destined for the CPU of the next network device; and
updating means for updating a local database of the CPU of the next network device using the control packet, to thereby reflect updating of a next-hop addressing scheme,
wherein the marking means allows the network device to identify the control packet as control traffic.
17. The stack of network devices of claim 16 , wherein the transmitting means is configured to transmit the control packet to the next network device according to the next-hop addressing scheme.