| 摘要 |
The present invention relates to a method of managing congestion in a multi-path network, the network having a plurality of network elements 18 arranged in a plurality of switch stages and a plurality of network links 17 interconnecting the network elements, the method comprising the steps of detecting congestion on a network link, the congested network link interconnecting the output port of a first network element with a first input port of a second network element in a subsequent switch stage; identifying an uncongested network link connected to a second input port of said second network element; and directing future data packets on a route across the multi-path network which includes the identified uncongested network link. Also provided is a multi-path network and an Ethernet bridge or router incorporating such a multi-path network. Each network element in the network may be configured to employ the above method. Congestion may be detected based on a depth of packet buffers, possibly compared to a threshold. The first network element may convey to the second network element the detected congestion, possibly using a congestion tag. The congested network link may be continued to be used even after congestion has been detected. The multi-path network may have at least one degree of symmetry and future data packets may be re-routed by a network element in a switch stage symmetric with the switch stage of the second network element. |
