Abstract: An apparatus and method for bandwidth control is provided to keep the bandwidth more stable. The apparatus includes an interval signal generator, a storage unit, and a control circuit. The interval signal generator outputs a plurality of interval signals which are evenly or approximately evenly distributed over a time interval. The value of the storage unit corresponds to a transmittable data size. The control circuit adjusts the value of the storage unit according to the interval signals.

Abstract: A network system capable of dynamically controlling a data flow is disclosed. The network system includes: a forwarding unit, for receiving a packet and for providing a QoS (quality of service) function; and a processor, for accessing data from the forwarding unit through an interface and setting at least one parameter of the forwarding unit. The interface is coupled between the forwarding unit and the processor, and the processor executes a software program to set the at least one parameter of the forwarding unit. In this way, the forwarding unit can classify received packets into different QoS levels according to their transmission properties, and can provide different forwarding methods and QoS services to reduce the amount of the output queues physically.

Abstract: A packet forwarding device is disclosed. The packet forwarding device includes: a transmission interface, coupled to a second network device; a processing unit, coupled to a first network device; a forwarding unit, coupled between the transmission interface and the processing unit; and an interface loop-back, coupled between the forwarding unit and the processing unit.

Abstract: A multi-class data transmission apparatus includes a first physical port having a first receiving buffer for receiving a packet, a second physical port, a third physical port, and an access control module. The second physical port includes a second high-priority transferring buffer, a second low-priority transferring buffer, and a second receiving buffer for receiving data from the second high/low-priority transferring buffers. The third physical port includes a third high-priority transferring buffer and a third low-priority transferring buffer. The access control module is utilized to read the packet from the first receiving buffer in order to directly transfer the packet, or output the packet through the second physical port to the third physical port according to a packet type.

Abstract: A differentiated granularity timing apparatus and a method to provide various flexible timing granularities without requiring much memory space and complex circuit design are disclosed. The differentiated granularity timing apparatus of the present invention comprises a differentiated granularity timing unit, a comparing unit, an adder and a buffer. The buffer is for storing a time value. The comparing unit further comprises a comparator and a plurality of predetermined time interval values stored therein. The comparator is for outputting a control signal according to the time value. The differentiated granularity timing unit further comprises a multiplexer and a plurality of timers. Each timer is for providing a timing signal with different timing granularities respectively. The multiplexer is for outputting one of the timing signals with the corresponding timing granularity according to the control signal.

Abstract: A method for multicast packet forwarding in a switch. The switch includes a look-up table and a plurality of ports. The switch transfers a multicast packet according to the look-up table. The method includes receiving the multicast packet from a port; if the multicast packet conforms to a specific transmission protocol then detecting a destination address information in the multicast packet; and checking whether the destination address information belongs to a network address set, wherein if the destination address information belongs to the network set the port is determined to be coupled to a multicast packet processing device and a corresponding relationship between the port and the multicast packet processing device is stored into the look-up table.

Abstract: A network address-port translation (NAPT) method includes: selecting a set of server IP and port from the server port table according to an external-to-internal packet; performing NAPT of the external-to-internal packet according to the selected set of server IP and server port; selecting a storage element from the translation table according to an internal-to-external packet; and performing NAPT of the internal-to-external packet according to the selected storage element.

Abstract: A method used for routing a data packet in a router having a first table used for recording a plurality of destination IP address and second table used for recording destination MAC address, wherein the plurality of destination IP address are different. The method includes: receiving a data packet and retrieving a destination IP address from the data packet; looking up an indication value corresponding to the destination IP address from the first table; selecting a destination MAC address from the second table according to the indication value as a nexthop for the data packet; and transmitting the data packet to the nexthop.

Abstract: The packet forwarding device and method of the invention assign a virtual port number to each peripheral interface. The device and method can recognize and process the packets coming from or transferred to the virtual port according to the packet direct forward function of the forward device. Thus, the device and method can process the packets that are inputted to or outputted from the peripheral interface and the network device connected to the peripheral interface in a manner similar to the typical method for processing the packets that are only inputted to or outputted from the physical port.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method that operates in the link layer and detects connection status in a LAN. The system includes a request frame whose source address is an address of a node transmitting the request frame, a reply frame whose destination address is the source address of the request frame, and a first node and a second node within the LAN for processing the request/reply frame. The method includes the first node transmitting a request frame into the LAN, the second node transmitting a reply frame to the first node if receiving the request frame, and the first node checking whether a destination address of the reply frame comprises an address of the first node when receiving the reply frame. If so, the connection between the first and second nodes is in a normal state.

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus for automatically configuring media connection of a first node device in a network, wherein the first node device and a second node device connected to the first node device both have at least a first pair and a second pair of connectors for transceiving data, the apparatus comprising a switch device, switching the configuration of the connectors in response to a control signal or an inhibiting signal, wherein the first and second pair of connectors of the first node device are connected to the first and second pair of connectors of the second node device respectively when the connectors are in the first configuration and the first and second pair of connectors of the first node device are connected to the second and first pair of connectors of the second node device respectively when the connectors are in the second configuration; a control signal generator, generating the control signal for controlling the switch device according to a random value comprising a plu

Abstract: A NAPT apparatus and method implemented with hardware circuits inside a network switch controller is provided. The NAPT apparatus comprises: a translation table for storing related information of NAPT connections; an IP table for storing available translated IPs; a packet parser for receiving a packet to be performed NAPT, parsing related fields of the packet, and generating part of required indexes according to transmission direction of the packet; and a packet translation module for performing NAPT. For a forward packet, the NAPT method employs an indexing means of the translation table and IP table and a recording means to generate a translated IP and a translated port number of the forward packet. For a backward packet, a restoring action corresponding to the recording means is performed to restore required values, thereby checking validity of the backward packet and performing subsequent NAPT.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for packet forwarding within a switch controller. In addition to unicast and broadcast forwarding, the method and apparatus can also analyze and forward IP multicast packets without the need of a CPU and a separate multicast address table, thereby enabling IP multicasting for the switch controller. Wherein, specific packet parsing and updating rules are used to analyze IP multicast control packets, and a multicast router or an address table is updated based on the analyzing result. IP multicast packets is then forwarded according to the updated tables. Moreover, with an extra flag bit set in each address table entry, unicast and multicast forwarding can share the same address table.

Abstract: A differentiated granularity timing apparatus and a method to provide various flexible timing granularities without requiring much memory space and complex circuit design are disclosed. The differentiated granularity timing apparatus of the present invention comprises a differentiated granularity timing unit, a comparing unit, an adder and a buffer. The buffer is for storing a time value. The comparing unit further comprises a comparator and a plurality of predetermined time interval values stored therein. The comparator is for outputting a control signal according to the time value. The differentiated granularity timing unit further comprises a multiplexer and a plurality of timers. Each timer is for providing a timing signal with different timing granularities respectively. The multiplexer is for outputting one of the timing signals with the corresponding timing granularity according to the control signal.

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus and method for NAT/NAPT session management used in a network switch controller. The apparatus comprises a translation table for storing related information of NAT/NAPT sessions, a register for storing setting values required by the apparatus, and a control logic for managing the NAT/NAPT sessions based on the setting values stored in the register and the related information in the translation table. The apparatus offers a connection time to each NAT/NAPT session and decreases it every unit time. When it is reduced to zero, the related information of the session is invalidated and the session is then disconnected. The apparatus stores related information of NAT/NAPT sessions and offers associated connection time and unit time based on the protocols used, thereby invalidating the related information timely to empty part of the translation table for storing related information of other sessions.

Abstract: A switch controller controlled by a Link layer protocol is provided. The controller does not occupy any IP address, and is capable of parsing control frames based on the Link layer protocol. The controller comprises: a reception unit for receiving a packet; a parsing unit for parsing a control frame in the packet and for generating a control signal based on the control frame; a packet buffer for storing the packet; a protocol-processing unit for modifying the control frame based on the control signal; and a transmission unit for transmitting the packet after being processed by the protocol-processing unit.

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus and method for bandwidth control used in a network switch controller. The apparatus and method achieve the goals of simplifying circuits and controlling bandwidth precisely by simplification of counting operations required by bandwidth control and a design of dual counters.

Abstract: An Internet address pre-lookup method, suitable for an Internet packet delivery system using a routing table and hash table. First, a pre-lookup table including a plurality of pre-lookup bits in the system is provided, each pre-lookup bit corresponding to a converting address, when any Internet address corresponding to the converting address exists in the routing table, then the pre-lookup bit corresponding to the converting address is set as valid. A packet including a destination address is received, and the pre-lookup bit corresponding to the converting address the same as the valid address of the destination address is checked in the pre-lookup table. When the pre-lookup bit corresponding to the converting address the same as the valid address of the destination address is invalid, a default process is directly performed on the packet.

Abstract: A lookup engine for a network device is provided to lookup an address table. The lookup engine includes a parser for getting address information of an incoming packet. A predetermined number of shift control logic is provided for generating an I.I.D hash index for the incoming packet in response to the address information of the incoming packet. The output of each shift control logic is selected by a selector for looking up an address table, thereby to generate a forwarding information. With the implementation of the shift control logic, the lookup engine can construct each flow entry and classify the incoming packets belonging to this flow in wire-speed.