Credit-based flow control for ethernet

1. A method for communication, comprising:

sending an Ethernet pause frame from a first node to a second node over a communication link between the nodes, while indicating in the pause frame a flow control credit limit allocated by the first node to the second node by inserting a value in the pause frame corresponding to a number of data blocks to be transmitted from the second node to the first node; and

in response to the pause frame, transmitting one or more data frames from the second node to the first node containing a volume of data in accordance with the number of data blocks indicated in the pause frame upon receipt of the pause frame at the second node.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pause frame comprises a field containing a value indicating that the pause frame is a medium access control (MAC) control frame in accordance with a network standard applicable to the communication link.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the field is selected from a group of fields consisting of:

a destination address field containing a multicast address reserved for pause frames;

a type field containing a control frame type code; and

an operation code field containing a pause opcode.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein indicating the flow control credit limit comprises indicating in the pause frame respective credit limits for a plurality of priority groups on the communication link, and wherein transmitting the volume of data comprises controlling transmission of the data from the second node to the first node in each of the priority groups in accordance with the respective credit limits.

5. A communication system, comprising first and second network nodes connected by a communication link,

wherein the first network node is configured to send an Ethernet pause frame over the communication link to the second network node, while indicating in the pause frame a flow control credit limit allocated by the first node to the second node by inserting a value in the pause frame corresponding to a number of data blocks to be transmitted from the second node to the first node, and

wherein the second network node is configured to transmit, in response to the pause frame, one or more data frames containing a volume of data in accordance with the number of data blocks indicated in the pause frame over the communication link to the first network node upon receipt of the pause frame at the second network node.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the pause frame comprises a field containing a value indicating that the pause frame is a medium access control (MAC) control frame in accordance with a network standard applicable to the communication link.

7. The system according to claim 6 , wherein the field is selected from a group of fields consisting of:

a destination address field containing a multicast address reserved for pause frames;

a type field containing a control frame type code; and

an operation code field containing a pause opcode.

8. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the pause frame indicates respective credit limits for a plurality of priority groups on the communication link, and wherein the second node is configured to control transmission of the data to the first node in each of the priority groups in accordance with the respective credit limits.

9. Communication apparatus, comprising:

a communication port, which is configured to be coupled to a communication link for communication with a network node; and

logic, which is configured to send an Ethernet pause frame via the communication link to the network node, while indicating in the pause frame a flow control credit limit allocated by the first node to the second node by inserting a value in the pause frame corresponding to a number of data blocks to be transmitted from the second node to the first node, so as to cause the network node, in response to the pause frame, to transmit one or more data frames containing a volume of data in accordance with the number of data blocks indicated in the pause frame over the link to the communication port upon receipt of the pause frame at the network node.

10. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the pause frame comprises a field containing a value indicating that the pause frame is a medium access control (MAC) control frame in accordance with a network standard applicable to the communication link.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the pause frame indicates respective credit limits for a plurality of priority groups on the communication link, and wherein the pause frame causes the network node to control transmission of the data in each of the priority groups in accordance with the respective credit limits.

12. Communication apparatus, comprising:

a communication port, which is configured to be coupled to a communication link for communication with a network node; and

logic, which is configured to receive an Ethernet pause frame via the communication link from the network, while indicating in the pause frame a flow control credit limit allocated by the first node to the second node by inserting a value in the pause frame corresponding to a number of data blocks to be transmitted from the second node to the first node, and in response to the pause frame, to transmit one or more data frames containing a volume of data in accordance with the number of data blocks indicated in the pause frame over the link via the communication port upon receipt of the pause frame.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the pause frame comprises a field containing a value indicating that the pause frame is a medium access control (MAC) control frame in accordance with a network standard applicable to the communication link.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the pause frame indicates respective credit limits for a plurality of priority groups on the communication link and causes the logic to control transmission of the data in each of the priority groups in accordance with the respective credit limits.