Kenneth M Ward

US Patent:

6549540, Apr 15, 2003

Filed:

Mar 15, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/268178

Inventors:

Kenneth A. Ward - Shrewsbury MA

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

International Classification:

H04J 302

US Classification:

370412, 370363, 370401, 370474, 370476, 709227

Abstract:

In a switched configuration in which data links can be bundled to increase data throughput, the links in a bundle are ordered. A data sender sequentially transmits cells in the data packet over links in the bundle. For example, a first cell is transmitted over a first ordered link in the bundle. The next cell is transmitted over the next link in the bundle order and operation continues in a âround robinâ fashion. The data receiver is informed in advance of the order of links in the bundle and expects cells to be distributed over the links in that order. The data sender transmits a bundle sequence number with each data cell. As each new data cell is transmitted, the bundle sequence number is incremented. The receiver uses the bundle sequence number to validate cell order, to detect lost cells, and to resynchronize cell order with the sender in the case of cell errors. Bundle sequence numbers are used on a single bundle on a single link, or âhopâ, between a data sender and a data receiver.

US Patent:

6744765, Jun 1, 2004

Filed:

Aug 24, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/645864

Inventors:

Glenn A. Dearth - Groton MA
Thomas P. Webber - Petersham MA
Kenneth A. Ward - Shrewsbury MA

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

International Classification:

H04L 1228

US Classification:

370394, 370349, 370473, 370474, 709236, 709238, 714748, 714749

Abstract:

A method for transmitting messages between two processes includes creating a communications channel between a first channel adapter coupled to a client process and a second channel adapter coupled to a remote process. The method further includes reading a request message at the first channel adapter, segmenting the request message into a series of packets, assigning a sequence number to each packet, and transmitting the packets in order to the second channel adapter through the communications channel. The method further includes receiving the packets at the second channel adapter and sending at least one acknowledgement message to the first channel adapter in response to the received packets. The acknowledgement message has a packet sequence number field containing a packet sequence number and a payload containing a message sequence number, wherein the message sequence number identifies a complete message last received at the second channel adapter and the packet sequence number identifies a packet last received at the second channel adapter.

US Patent:

6804258, Oct 12, 2004

Filed:

Dec 7, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/456740

Inventors:

Kenneth A. Ward - Shrewsbury MA
Domenic Dimeo - Groton MA
Glenn Dearth - Groton MA

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

International Classification:

H04J 324

US Classification:

370474, 370394

Abstract:

In a bundled link system which partitions a data packet into varying size cells, a data packet is partitioned into a stream of cells of which the last two cells are partial cells. When the data has been partitioned so that less than the data required to fill two maximum size cells remains, the remaining data is divided into two cells where the cell size is selected so that each cell is larger than a predetermined minimum size. In a preferred embodiment, the remaining data is equally divided into partial size cells. In particular, in accordance with one embodiment, when there is less than two times the maximum size cell of data remaining to be partitioned in a packet and the remaining data is more than the maximum cell size, then the cell size used for the last two cells is the size of the remaining data divided by two.

US Patent:

6937611, Aug 30, 2005

Filed:

Apr 21, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/553966

Inventors:

Kenneth A. Ward - Shrewsbury MA, US

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

International Classification:

H04J015/00

US Classification:

370462, 370408, 370412, 370449

Abstract:

A system for servicing communication queues may include memory configured to store a hierarchical channel map having a plurality of levels wherein each bit of the lowest level is mapped to a different one of a plurality of communication channels and wherein each bit of each higher level is mapped to a group of bits at the next lower level. The system may include a host adapter configured to maintain the hierarchical bitmap wherein each bit at the lowest level is set if the channel to which it is mapped has a pending communication request and is cleared if not. Each bit of each higher level is set if at least one bit is set in the lower level group to which is mapped and cleared if not. The host adapter may be configured to examine the hierarchical bitmap in order to determine a next one of the communication channels to service. At each level of the hierarchical channel map a service mask may be provided to track which bits have already been traversed at that level. Multiple such service masks may be provided at each level to support different service classes.

US Patent:

7496713, Feb 24, 2009

Filed:

Jul 21, 2004

Appl. No.:

10/896291

Inventors:

Kenneth A. Ward - Shrewsbury MA, US
Hugh R. Kurth - Lexington MA, US

Assignee:

Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

International Classification:

G06F 12/00
G06F 13/00
G06F 13/28

US Classification:

711141, 711146, 711 20

Abstract:

In data processing systems that use a snoopy based cache coherence protocol and which contain a read only cache memory with a bounded range of addresses, a cache line hit is detected by assuming that, if an address contained in a request falls within the bounded range, the cache line is present in the cache memory for snoop results. This is equivalent to assuming that the cache line is marked as shared when it might not be so marked.

US Patent:

49167049, Apr 10, 1990

Filed:

Sep 4, 1987

Appl. No.:

7/093539

Inventors:

William F. Bruckert - Northboro MA
Thomas D. Bissett - Derry NH
Mitchell O. Norcross - Framingham MA
Kenneth A. Ward - Marlboro MA

Assignee:

Digital Equipment Corporation - Maynard MA

International Classification:

G06F 1116

US Classification:

371 683

Abstract:

A fault tolerant computer system includes a fault tolerant data processing module which has means for detecting and correcting errors in the operation of the data processing module to maintain a high degree of data integrity. Data transmission control devices control the transmission of all data to the fault tolerant data processing module and the receipt of all data into the fault tolerant data processing module. Input/output terminals are coupled to the data transmission control means for receiving and transmitting data. A non-fault tolerant input/output module is coupled to transmit the data to the input/output terminals of the fault tolerant data processing module. This module includes a read device for transferring data to the fault tolerant computing system in response to requests from the data transmission control devices, and a firewall for preventing the non-fault tolerant input/output module from initiating transfers of data to the fault tolerant data processing module.