Method and apparatus for supporting network communications
View Patent ↗One embodiment of the invention includes a method of managing network communications in a network device. The network device includes software components and modules. Some of the components control the interaction between modules, while other components perform specific functions for associated modules. A module manager component controls the creation and destruction of modules as well as their interactions. A communications manager component manages network communications in the network device. The network communications is supported by creating a number of modules that are associated with components that implement different parts of a network protocol. As a result of the use of the modules, a component need not know which other component(s) it depends upon, nor need it know which other component(s) depend upon it. This allows components to be used together very easily in many different configurations. The modules also allow the same component to be used by multiple modules.
1. A method for communicating data between a plurality of components in a network communication device, each component of said plurality of components providing a set of functions for portions of a network protocol, said plurality of components including at least a first component, a second component, and a third component, said method comprising:
generating a module for each component of said plurality of components, a first module corresponding to said first component, a second module corresponding to said second component and a third module corresponding to said third component;
receiving packets at said first component;
splitting, by said first component, a load of said packets between said second component and said third component.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the load of packets is split between the second component and the third component across at least two channels.
3. A method of claim 1 wherein the second module and the third module are dependent on said first module.
4. A method of claim 3 wherein the first module, by virtue of an event notification system, determines how many module depend on said first module.
5. A method of claim 4 wherein identities of the dependent modules are undetermined at the first module.
6. A method of claim 1 , wherein generating a module for each component of said plurality of components further comprises generating the module for each component of said plurality of components in response to at least one of a new device becoming available and a direction by a configuration file.
7. A method of claim 1 , wherein generating a module for each component of said plurality of components further comprises generating the module for each component of said plurality of components to provide references for the plurality of components to pass network data from one component to a next component.
8. A method of claim 1 , wherein generating a module for each component of said plurality of components further comprises generating the module for each component of said plurality of components to provide references for the plurality of components to pass network data from one component to a next component without requiring that a given component knows the next component.
9. A method of claim 1 , wherein generating a module for each component of said plurality of components further comprises generating the module for each component of said plurality of components to correspond to a different component that supports a different part of a communications protocol.
10. A method of claim 1 , wherein generating a module for each component of said plurality of components further comprises generating the module for each component of said plurality of components to correspond to a different component that supports a different part of a communications protocol necessary to create a port.
11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs executable by a processor, said one or more computer programs implementing a method for communicating data between a plurality of components in a network communication device, each component of said plurality of components providing a set of functions for portions of a network protocol, said plurality of components including at least a first component, a second component, and a third component, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions to:
generate a module for each component of said plurality of components, a first module corresponding to said first component, a second module corresponding to said second component and a third module corresponding to said third component;
receive packets at said first component;
split, by said first component, a load of said packets between said second component and said third component.
12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions to:
generate the module for each component of said plurality of components in response to at least one of a new device becoming available and a direction by a configuration file.
13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions to:
generate the module for each component of said plurality of components to provide references for the plurality of components to pass network data from one component to a next component.
14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions to:
generate the module for each component of said plurality of components to provide references for the plurality of components to pass network data from one component to a next component without requiring that a given component knows the next component.
15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions to:
generate the module for each component of said plurality of components to correspond to a different component that supports a different part of a communications protocol.
16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , said one or more computer programs further comprising a set of instructions to:
generate the module for each component of said plurality of components to correspond to a different component that supports a different part of a communications protocol necessary to create a port.