SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR LOAD-BALANCING TO A PLURALITY OF PORTS
A system, method, and apparatus for load balancing to a plurality of ports is presented herein. A miniport driver is adapted to multiplex and demultiplex traffic workload across the ports. The miniport driver classifies outgoing packet streams and distributes each packet stream to a communication ring, such as an Ethernet ring, for example, associated with at least one of the ports. Additionally, the miniport driver can be configured to configure a operation of the plurality of ports in one of several modes, including a mode wherein the plurality of ports are operable and act as a single logical interface for the operation.
1 . An integrated network controller comprising:
a plurality of ports; and
a control module connected to the plurality of ports and adapted to control a traffic workload across each of the plurality of ports, wherein the control module operates below a network design interface specification.
2 . The network controller of claim 1 , wherein the control module comprises a miniport driver.
3 . The network controller of claim 1 , wherein the control module multiplexes and demultiplexes the traffic.
4 . The network controller of claim 3 , wherein the control module is adapted to classify outgoing packet streams and distribute such packet streams to a communication ring associated with at least one of said ports.
5 . The network controller of claim 1 , wherein each of said ports is associated with a media access controller.
6 . The network controller of claim 1 , further comprising a first memory for storing an operating mode indicator.
7 . The network controller of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of register sets, wherein each of said ports is associated with a particular one of the plurality of register sets.
8 . The network controller of claim 6 , wherein one of the plurality of register sets includes a first base address register and a second base address register storing an address associated with another one of the plurality of register sets.
9 . An integrated network controller comprising:
a plurality of ports for receiving a traffic workload; and
a control module for controlling the traffic workload across each of the plurality of ports, wherein the control module operates below a network design interface specification.
10 . The integrated network controller of claim 9 , wherein the control module comprises a miniport driver.
11 . The integrated network controller of claim 9 , wherein the control module multiplexes and demultiplexes the traffic.
12 . The integrated network controller of claim 11 , wherein the control module classifies outgoing packet streams and distributes such packet streams to a communication ring associated with at least one of said ports.
13 . The integrated network controller of claim 11 , wherein each of said ports is associated with a media access controller.
14 . The integrated network controller of claim 9 , further comprising a first memory for storing an operating mode indicator.
15 . The integrated network controller of claim 9 , wherein each of said ports is associated with a particular one of a plurality of register.
16 . The integrated network controller of claim 15 , wherein one of the plurality of register sets comprises a first base address register and a second base address register storing an address associated with another one of the plurality of register sets.