METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING POOL STARVATION IN A SHARED MEMORY SWITCH

摘要

A switch includes a reserved pool of buffers in a shared memory. The reserved
pool of buffers is reserved for exclusive use by an egress port. The switch
includes
pool select logic which selects a free buffer from the reserved pool for
storing data
received from an ingress port to be forwarded to the egress port. The shared
memory
also includes a shared pool of buffers. The shared pool of buffers is shared
by a
plurality of egress ports. The pool select logic selects a free buffer in the
shared pool
upon detecting no free buffer in the reserved pool. The shared memory may also

include a multicast pool of buffers. The multicast pool of buffers is shared
by a
plurality of egress ports. The pool select logic selects a free buffer in the
multicast pool
upon detecting an IP Multicast data packet received from an ingress port.