APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING NETWORK FLOW CONGESTION

1 . A method for managing network flow congestion, comprising:

receiving a plurality of packets;

identifying whether each packet belongs to a predetermined protocol; distinguishing a plurality of connections of the packets belonged to the predetermined protocol;

monitoring a buffer usage of each different connections; and

performing a congestion check procedure on the currently monitored connection, wherein in the congestion check procedure, when the buffer usage of the currently monitored connection exceeds a threshold, a congestion processing procedure is triggered.

2 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether to perform the congestion check procedure according to a remainder of the buffer corresponding to the currently monitored connection and a congestion indication threshold.

3 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold is a mark threshold, and the congestion processing procedure is to set an explicit congestion notification-echo (ECE) flag in the packet corresponding to the currently monitored connection.

4 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 3 , wherein the ECE flag is added to a TCP ACK packet and the TCP ACK packet is sent back to a transmit end.

5 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 4 , wherein a size of a congestion window in the transmit end is reduced according to the ECE flag of the TCP ACK packet.

6 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 3 , wherein the mark threshold is dynamically reduced as the number of connections increases.

7 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold is a drop threshold, and the congestion processing procedure is to drop the packet corresponding to the currently monitored connection.

8 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 1 , further comprising:

checking a FIN flag and a RST flag of each of the packets, and canceling the monitoring of the buffer usage corresponding to the connection when the FIN flag or the RST flag is set.

9 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined protocol comprises a transmission control protocol (TCP).

10 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 1 , wherein the packet, which does not belong to the predetermined protocol, is directly passed to be stored in a buffer pool to wait for output.

11 . The method for managing network flow congestion according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold is adjusted over a management network path.

12 . An apparatus for managing network flow congestion, comprising:

a receive port, configured to receive a plurality of packets;

a buffer pool, configured to store the packets;

a management circuit, configured to identify whether each packet belongs to a predetermined protocol, distinguish a plurality of connections of the packets belonged to the predetermined protocol, monitor a buffer usage of each different connections of the packets belonged to the predetermined protocol, and perform a congestion check procedure on the currently monitored connection, wherein in the congestion check procedure, when the buffer usage of the currently monitored connection exceeds a threshold, a congestion processing procedure is triggered; and

an output port, configured to output the packets stored in the buffers.

13 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 12 , wherein the threshold is a mark threshold, and the congestion processing procedure is to set an explicit congestion notification-echo (ECE) flag in the packet corresponding to the currently monitored connection.

14 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 13 , wherein the ECE flag is added to a TCP ACK packet and the TCP ACK packet is sent back to a transmit end, and wherein the transmit end reduces a size of a congestion window according to the ECE flag of the TCP ACK packet.

15 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 13 , wherein the mark threshold is dynamically reduced as the number of connections increases.

16 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 12 , wherein the threshold is a drop threshold, and the congestion processing procedure is to drop the packet corresponding to the currently monitored connection.

17 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 12 , wherein the management circuit further determines whether to perform the congestion check procedure according to a buffer remainder corresponding to the currently monitored connection and a congestion indication threshold.

18 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 12 , wherein the management circuit further checks a FIN flag and a RST flag of each of the packets, and cancels the monitoring of the buffer usage corresponding to the connection when the FIN flag or the RST flag is set.

19 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 12 , wherein the packet, which does not belong to the predetermined protocol, is directly passed to be stored in a buffer pool to wait for output.

20 . The apparatus for managing network flow congestion according to claim 12 , wherein the threshold is adjusted over a management network path.