Patents by Inventor Mark Verhappen
Mark Verhappen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 8151067Abstract: The present invention discloses a memory sharing mechanism based on priority elevation. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus and method for transporting packets of data in a communication device, wherein each packet is assigned one of several priorities and received based on memory state information. The method comprises the steps of storing the received packets in a memory and modifying the assigned priority of any of the packets causing congestion within the memory.Type: GrantFiled: March 19, 2008Date of Patent: April 3, 2012Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Francois G. Abel, Wolfgang Denzel, Antonius Engbersen, Ferdinand Gramsamer, Mitch Gusat, Ronald P. Luijten, Cyriel Minkenberg, Mark Verhappen
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Patent number: 8009702Abstract: A communication system which consists of several modules—operating in parallel on segments of a packet—to increase speed and handling capacity. One module acts as master, the others are slave modules controlled by control signals derived by the master module. It is important that in each module the data segment and the respective control signal of each packet are correctly synchronized, because in large systems the data paths carrying packet segments and the control signal paths may have substantially different delays. The invention provides for measurement of the propagation delay differences and for introducing a controlled delay in each slave module, so that data segments and control signals can be correctly correlated by delaying either the one or the other. Synchronization packets are transmitted besides normal data packets, for obtaining time stamps which are used to determine the delay difference.Type: GrantFiled: May 11, 2010Date of Patent: August 30, 2011Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Michel Colmant, Alan Benner, Francois G. Abel, Michel Poret, Norbert Schumacher, Alain Blanc, Mark Verhappen, Mitch Gusat
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Publication number: 20100220749Abstract: A communication system which consists of several modules—operating in parallel on segments of a packet—to increase speed and handling capacity. One module acts as master, the others are slave modules controlled by control signals derived by the master module. It is important that in each module the data segment and the respective control signal of each packet are correctly synchronized, because in large systems the data paths carrying packet segments and the control signal paths may have substantially different delays. The invention provides for measurement of the propagation delay differences and for introducing a controlled delay in each slave module, so that data segments and control signals can be correctly correlated by delaying either the one or the other. Synchronization packets are transmitted besides normal data packets, for obtaining time stamps which are used to determine the delay difference.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 11, 2010Publication date: September 2, 2010Applicant: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Michael COLMANT, Alan Benner, Francois G. Abel, Michel Poret, Norbert Schumacher, Alain Blanc, Mark Verhappen, Mitch Gusat
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Patent number: 7720105Abstract: For switching or transmitting data packets, one can provide communication systems which consist of several modules —operating in parallel on segments of a packet —to increase speed and handling capacity. One module acts as master, others are slave modules controlled by control signals derived by the master module. It is important to correctly synchronize in each module the data segment and the respective control signal of each packet, because in large systems the data paths carrying packet segments and the control signal paths may have substantially different delays. The invention provides for measurement of the propagation delay differences and for introducing a controlled delay in each slave module, so that data segments and control signals can be correctly correlated by delaying either the one or the other. Synchronization packets are transmitted besides normal data packets, for obtaining time stamps which are used to determine the delay difference.Type: GrantFiled: March 31, 2003Date of Patent: May 18, 2010Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Michael Colmant, Alan Benner, Francois G. Abel, Michel Poret, Norbert Schumacher, Alain Blanc, Mark Verhappen, Mitch Gusat
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Publication number: 20080165793Abstract: The present invention discloses a memory sharing mechanism based on priority elevation. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus and method for transporting packets of data in a communication device, wherein each packet is assigned one of several priorities and received based on memory state information. The method comprises the steps of storing the received packets in a memory and modifying the assigned priority of any of the packets causing congestion within the memory.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 19, 2008Publication date: July 10, 2008Applicant: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Francois G. Abel, Wolfgang Denzel, Antonius Engbersen, Ferdinand Gramsamer, Mitch Gusat, Ronald P. Luijten, Cyriel Minkenberg, Mark Verhappen
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Patent number: 7392355Abstract: The present invention discloses a memory sharing mechanism based on priority elevation. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus and method for transporting packets of data in a communication device, wherein each packet is assigned one of several priorities and received based on memory state information. The method comprises the steps of storing the received packets in a memory and modifying the assigned priority of any of the packets causing congestion within the memory.Type: GrantFiled: July 1, 2003Date of Patent: June 24, 2008Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Francois G. Abel, Wolfgang Denzel, Antonius Engbersen, Ferdinand Gramsamer, Mitch Gusat, Ronald P Luijten, Cyriel Minkenberg, Mark Verhappen
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Publication number: 20070297330Abstract: The present invention discloses a scalable flow-control mechanism. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a switching device for transporting packets of data, the packets being received at the switching device based on flow-control information, the device comprising a memory for storing the packets, a credit counter coupled to the memory for counting a credit number of packets departing from the memory, and a scheduler unit coupled to the credit counter for deriving the flow-control information in response to the credit number. Moreover, a switching apparatus and a method for generating flow-control information is disclosed.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 17, 2007Publication date: December 27, 2007Inventors: Mitch Gusat, Ferdinand Gramsamer, Mark Verhappen, Antonius Engbersen, Ronald Luijten, Francois Abel, Cyriel Minkenberg, Jose Duato
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Patent number: 7304949Abstract: The present invention discloses a scalable flow-control mechanism. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a switching device for transporting packets of data, the packets being received at the switching device based on flow-control information, the device comprising a memory for storing the packets, a credit counter coupled to the memory for counting a credit number of packets departing from the memory, and a scheduler unit coupled to the credit counter for deriving the flow-control information in response to the credit number. Moreover, a switching apparatus and a method for generating flow-control information is disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: February 3, 2003Date of Patent: December 4, 2007Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Mitch Gusat, Ferdinand Gramsamer, Mark Verhappen, Antonius Engbersen, Ronald P. Luijten, Francois G. Abel, Cyriel Minkenberg, Jose Duato
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Publication number: 20060251124Abstract: For switching or transmitting data packets, one can provide communication systems which consist of several modules—operating in parallel on segments of a packet—to increase speed and handling capacity. One module acts as master (21), the others are slave modules (22) controlled by control signals (25) derived by the master module. It is important that in each module the data segment and the respective control signal of each packet are correctly synchronized, because in large systems the data paths carrying packet segments and the control signal paths may have substantially different delays. The invention provides for measurement of the propagation delay differences and for introducing a controlled delay in each slave module, so that data segments and control signals can be correctly correlated by delaying either the one or the other. Synchronization packets are transmitted besides normal data packets, for obtaining time stamps which are used to determine the delay difference.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 31, 2003Publication date: November 9, 2006Inventors: Michel Colmant, Alan Benner, Francois Abel, Michel Poret, Norhert Schumacher, Alain Blanc, Mark Verhappen, Mitch Gusat
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Publication number: 20040022188Abstract: The present invention discloses a memory sharing mechanism based on priority elevation. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus and method for transporting packets of data in a communication device, wherein each packet is assigned one of several priorities and received based on memory state information. The method comprises the steps of storing the received packets in a memory and modifying the assigned priority of any of the packets causing congestion within the memory.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 1, 2003Publication date: February 5, 2004Applicant: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Francois G. Abel, Wolfgang Denzel, Antonius Engbersen, Ferdinand Gramsamer, Mitch Gusat, Ronald P. Luijten, Cyriel Minkenberg, Mark Verhappen
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Publication number: 20030152091Abstract: The present invention discloses a scalable flow-control mechanism. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a switching device for transporting packets of data, the packets being received at the switching device based on flow-control information, the device comprising a memory for storing the packets, a credit counter coupled to the memory for counting a credit number of packets departing from the memory, and a scheduler unit coupled to the credit counter for deriving the flow-control information in response to the credit number. Moreover, a switching apparatus and a method for generating flow-control information is disclosed.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 3, 2003Publication date: August 14, 2003Applicant: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Mitch Gusat, Ferdinand Gramsamer, Mark Verhappen, Antonius Engbersen, Ronald P. Luijten, Francois G. Abel, Cyriel Minkenberg, Jose Duato