Patents Assigned to Brocade Communications Systems
  • Patent number: 8320241
    Abstract: A network of switches that employ Registered State Change Notifications (RSCNs) with enhanced payloads is disclosed. In one embodiment, the network comprises multiple switches coupled together, and multiple node devices each directly-coupled to at least one other switch. Each of the switches preferably provides RSCNs to other switches when a node device state change is detected. One or more of the RSCNs preferably includes a device entry having more than four properties associated with the node device undergoing the state change. The switches receiving the enhanced RSCNs preferably maintain caches of remote node device entries copied from the RSCN device entries. The device entries preferably include one or more of the following: Owner Identifier, Port Type, Port Identifier, Port Name, Node Name, Initial Process Associator, Node IP Address, Class of Service, FC-4 Types, Port IP Address, Fabric Port Name, and Hard Address. Traffic overhead may advantageously be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications System, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiaoheng Chen, Raymond C. Tsai, Richard L. Hammons, Lalit D. Pathak
  • Publication number: 20120294166
    Abstract: Techniques for efficiently updating routing information in a network device such as a router. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the routing information is updated upon creation or deletion of an overlay tunnel without the network device having to regenerate a Shortest Path Tree (SPT) by performing full Shortest Path First (SPF) processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 6, 2011
    Publication date: November 22, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Vamsi Punati, Hasnain Karampurwala, Reshma Sudarshan
  • Patent number: 8315188
    Abstract: A network comprises a plurality of interconnected switches that implement a topology database synchronization technique in which each switch determines whether its topology database has already been transmitted to a neighboring switch when a new link is formed to the neighboring switch. When a new electrical connection is detected, the local switch determines whether any of its other ports have already been connected to the same neighboring switch. If no other port on the local switch has been connected to the neighboring switch, the local switch transmits its topology database to the neighboring switch. If the local switch determines that it has already been connected to the neighboring switch via another one of its ports, the local switch does not yet again copy of the database to the neighboring switch. Also, link state record updates are propagated via only one inter-switch link to a neighboring switch, not all possible links.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications System, Inc.
    Inventors: Ezio Valdevit, Vineet Abraham
  • Patent number: 8310832
    Abstract: A cooling system for rack mount electrical or electronic equipment comprises a hollow, box-shaped exhaust shelf having a vent on at least one end face thereof. The exhaust shelf may be configured for rack mounting. A side duct, open on its inner side, is mounted between the exhaust shelf and a top rail adapted to be mounted between a front post and an opposing rear post in a four-post rack mount enclosure. A plenum in the side duct is in fluid communication with the interior chamber of the exhaust shelf. A chassis having a side-facing exhaust for cooling air may be mounted on or over the exhaust shelf such that warm air exiting the chassis is collected in the plenum of the side duct and channeled into the exhaust shelf and out through the vent. In this way, the desired front-to-back cooling air flow within a rack mount enclosure may be maintained even if one or more individual chassis mounted in the enclosure have side cooling air exhausts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony Siebe Vanderveen, Daniel Kiernan Kilkenny
  • Patent number: 8311225
    Abstract: A solution for scalable key archival includes, at a network device, determining whether a key management device that is not part of a current key management device configuration has been newly added to a network. The method also includes, if the key management device has been newly added to the network, determining whether the network device has a first application program interface (API) or device driver for communicating with the key management device. The method also includes, if the network device does not have the first API, obtaining the API. The method also includes creating a binding between a virtual device driver of the network device and the key management device via the first API, the network device having a second API for communications between the virtual device driver and a security processor of the network device. The security processor communicates with the key management device using the second API.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Jitendra Kumar Singh, Lyndon Siao, Narada Jared Hess
  • Publication number: 20120282803
    Abstract: A first housing element is attached to an upper surface of a printed circuit board (PCB), and a second housing element is attached to a lower surface of the PCB. The first housing element receives a first electronic module, and includes a first signal wire that connects the first electronic module to a first trace on the PCB. The second housing element receives a second electronic module, which is vertically aligned with the first electronic module, and includes a second signal wire that connects the second electronic module to the first trace on the PCB. Alternately, a housing element attached to a PCB receives two or more electronic modules, and provides unique connections between the electronic modules and the PCB.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2012
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Scott W. Augsburger, Mark G. Siechen, David A. Skirmont
  • Patent number: 8295288
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are various aspects of a Fibre Channel (Fibre Channel) fabric having switches that employ Registered State Change Notifications (RSCNs) with enhanced payloads. Two types of RSCN message formats are provided, both including status information about the affected device(s). In one embodiment, a RSCN message format for inter-switch communication provides various information about the affected devices according to one of a plurality of predetermined formats. In another embodiment, a node device RSCN message format provides information about a port state, the identification of the affected port, along with the port and node world wide names and the FC-4 types supported by the node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications System, Inc.
    Inventors: Xiaocheng “Cora” Chen, Raymond C. Tsai, Richard L. Hammons, Lalit D. Pathak, Sundar Poudyal, Daotang Yang
  • Patent number: 8291143
    Abstract: A system and method for communication over a single communication line. The system includes an interface logic component for sending and receiving information for a processing component. The system further includes a single line interface module for sending and receiving data over a single communication line. The single line interface module uses a preamble for sending and recovering a clock signal for sending and receiving data over the single communication line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communication Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Pedman Moobed
  • Patent number: 8280998
    Abstract: In a load balancing system, user-configurable geographic prefixes are provided. IP address prefix allocations provided by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and associated geographic locations are stored in a first, static database in a load balancing switch, along with other possible default geographic location settings. A second, non-static database stores user-configured geographic settings. In particular, the second database stores Internet Protocol (IP) address prefixes and user-specified geographic regions for those prefixes. The specified geographic region can be continent, country, state, city, or other user-defined region. The geographic settings in the second database can override the information in the first database. These geographic entries help determine the geographic location of a client and host IP addresses, and aid in directing the client to a host server that is geographically the closest to that client.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Prajakta S. Joshi
  • Patent number: 8279775
    Abstract: In a system comprising a first fabric and a plurality of devices coupled to the fabric by Fibre Channel connections, the devices are logically grouped to form configurations and zones. A configuration includes at least one zone, and each zone includes at least one device as a member of the zone. Communications between the devices is restricted according to the configuration currently in effect. For example, one device may be permitted to communicate with another device only if they are members of a common zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: David Banks, Kumar Malavalli, Paul Ramsay, Kha Sin Teow, Jieming Zhu
  • Publication number: 20120221849
    Abstract: Web-based authentication includes receiving a packet in a network switch having at least one associative store configured to forward packet traffic to a first one or more processors of the switch that are dedicated to cryptographic processing if a destination port of the packet indicates a secure transport protocol, and to a second one or more processors of the switch that are not dedicated to cryptographic processing if the destination port does not indicate a secure transport protocol. If a source of the packet is an authenticated user, the packet is forwarded via an output port of the switch, based on the associative store. If the source is an unauthenticated user, the packet is forwarded to the first one or more processors if the destination port indicates a secure transport protocol, and to the second one or more processors if the destination port does not indicate a secure transport protocol.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Yan-Zhe Wang, Sean Hou, Sridhar Devarapalli, Louis Yun
  • Publication number: 20120216254
    Abstract: Web-based authentication includes receiving a packet in a network switch having at least one associative store configured to forward packet traffic to a first one or more processors of the switch that are dedicated to cryptographic processing if a destination port of the packet indicates a secure transport protocol, and to a second one or more processors of the switch that are not dedicated to cryptographic processing if the destination port does not indicate a secure transport protocol. If a source of the packet is an authenticated user, the packet is forwarded via an output port of the switch, based on the associative store. If the source is an unauthenticated user, the packet is forwarded to the first one or more processors if the destination port indicates a secure transport protocol, and to the second one or more processors if the destination port does not indicate a secure transport protocol.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Yan-Zhe Wang, Sean Hou, Sridhar Devarapalli, Louis Yun
  • Publication number: 20120216256
    Abstract: A system, method and apparatus for providing multiple access modes in a data communications network includes a network access device having a plurality of input ports, a plurality of output ports, and a switching fabric for routing data received on the plurality of input ports to at least one of the plurality of output ports. Control logic within the network access device is adapted to determine whether a user device coupled to one of the plurality of input ports supports a user authentication protocol used by a host network. If the user authentication protocol is not supported, then the input port to which the network access device is coupled is placed in a semi-authorized access state that limits access to a pre-configured network accessible via the host network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Philip Kwan
  • Patent number: 8250381
    Abstract: A method of allocating power to ports in an Ethernet switch, including: (1) assigning a configuration power to a selected port, wherein the assigned configuration power is less than a power supplied by the selected port to a powered, (2) enabling and powering the selected port in a single indivisible step, (3) determining the power limit of a device coupled to the selected port, (4) comparing the power supplied by the selected port to the device with the configuration power assigned to the selected port, and (5) if the power supplied by the selected port to the device is greater than the configuration power assigned to the selected port, then increasing the configuration power of the selected port to correspond with the power limit of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Rakesh Hansalia, Adoor V. Balasubramanian
  • Patent number: 8244946
    Abstract: A technique for interrupt moderation allows coalescing interrupts from a device into groups to be processed as a batch by a host processor. Receive and send completions may be processed differently. When the host is interrupted for receive completions, it may check for send completions, reducing the need for interrupts related to send completions. Timers and a counter allow coalescing interrupts into a single interrupt that can be used to signal the host to process multiple completions. The technique is suitable for both dedicated interrupt line and message-signaled interrupts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Somesh Gupta, Venkatesh Nagapudi
  • Patent number: 8228820
    Abstract: An port expander Fibre Channel switch presents F_ports to form a first Fibre Channel fabric and N_ports to a second Fibre Channel fabric to appear as node devices. The port expander may be used to connect a plurality of blade servers to a Fibre Channel fabric. Fabric events engendered by the insertion or removal of hot-pluggable devices are handled by the port expander and “event storms” on the Fibre Channel fabric are avoided. The port expander presents the blade servers to the FC fabric as a virtualized N_port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications System, Inc.
    Inventors: Manjunath A. Gopal Gowda, Richard L. Hammons
  • Patent number: 8223633
    Abstract: F_PORTs of an edge switch are logically trunking with N_PORTs of a node device outside the fabric via a trunked group of communications links. The trunked N_PORTs of the node device and the trunked F_PORTs of the edge switch are configured to send and receive frames of a particular stream across the multiple trunked links for in-order communication with the other device. The node device outside the fabric initially negotiates with the edge switch using a sequence of fabric login requests and fabric login acceptances to establish the trunked connection between the devices (and their respective ports).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2012
    Assignee: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Rajnish Gupta, Nhan T. Pham, Amod K. Dani, Ponpandiaraj Rajarathinam, Vineet Mathew Abraham
  • Publication number: 20120173713
    Abstract: Techniques for monitoring system resources such that a resource-related problem can be identified at a point in time when it is still possible to initiate a set of recovery actions for remedying the problem without disrupting services provided by the system. Various system resources may be monitored including but not limited to system memory (e.g., RAM), one or more processors, non-volatile memory (e.g., Compact Flash usage), and the like.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2011
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communication Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Bei Wang, Xiaohui Lu, Peiming James Chen
  • Publication number: 20120173859
    Abstract: Techniques for detecting rolling reboots and for taking responsive actions to stop rolling reboots.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Bei Wang, Xiaohui Lu, Geng Tian
  • Publication number: 20120163175
    Abstract: A network device monitors the traffic of individual flows through one of its ingress ports and, if the traffic volume exceeds a predetermined threshold, signals for a reduction in data traffic volume transmitted to that ingress port from one or more source devices. Example signals may include without limitation a unicast congestion message sent to the source of a flow, an Explicit Congestion Notification to one or more source devices, and the dropping of packets by the receiving device. In response to such signals, one or more of the source devices decrease the transmission rate of data traffic to the receiving device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2010
    Publication date: June 28, 2012
    Applicant: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Somesh Gupta