Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Jeanini S. Ray-Yarletts
  • Patent number: 6178448
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus and computer program products are provided for distributing communication packets over multiple concurrent parallel links between a first node and a second node in a communication network based upon link quality information for the links. By utilizing link quality information from the links, the rate at which packets are provided to the links may be made proportional to the quality of the link, and thus, the link's ability to transmit the packet. The rate at which packets are provided to links may be reduced when error rates on a link exceed a specified threshold and eliminated when error rates exceed a higher threshold. Alternatively, timing delays from errors on a link may be used to determine a delay factor for a link and packets scheduled to the links based on the link with the lowest delay. The present invention is particularly useful in High Performance Routing Multilink Transmission Groups.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2001
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: James P. Gray, James J. Martin