JPH0787100A - Communication adaptor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To integrate conventional clients of a LAN(Local Area Network) adopting the CSMA/CD system in the CSS(Client Server System) network into a high speed CSS network built up by a LAN whose speed is higher by a multi ple of four than that of the conventional LAN and to realize the high speed operation of the conventional LAN. CONSTITUTION:A hub adaptor 1 is made up of plural 10Mbps ports 10, 100Mbps ports 11, a CSMA/CD control section 12, a 100Mbps LAN protocol control section 13, an internal bus 14, a buffer 15 and a DMA controller 16 or the like. Part of the processing is allocated to a CPU of a server 2 itself of the like to suppress the quantity of the hardware in the hub adaptor 1 and the processing is increased by the parallel operation of the server 2 and the hub adaptor 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an integrated connection system of a LAN (Local Area Network) adopting the CSMA / CD system and a LAN four times or more faster than the LAN, and more particularly to a CSS.
(ClientServer System) The present invention relates to a transfer rate conversion system between the CSMA / CD system LAN and the high-speed LAN for constructing a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, CSS (Client Server System)
As a LAN that constructs a network, transfer performance is 1
LANs such as Ethernet of 0 Mbps and talk-in ring of 4/16 Mbps are widely used. On the other hand, in personal computers and workstations, products with a CPU performance exceeding 100 MIPS have appeared, and there is a demand for high speed and large capacity networks that directly connect such high performance machines.

In order to meet this demand, various 100
A Mbps floor LAN (distance between nodes within 100 m) has been proposed. The typical one is the twisted pair FDDI,
High-speed Ethernet, ATM-LAN, etc.

Among these methods, the high-speed Ethernet, 10Base, which has been popular as the conventional Ethernet, is used.
-100Base-VG method that can use the same transmission medium as T
A 4-pair CSMA / CD system, a 100Base-X system, and the like, which improve the quality of a transmission medium and inherit the CSMA / CD system, have been proposed.

As shown in FIG. 6, most of the above-mentioned high-speed Ethernet systems collect a server / client that requires a high-speed LAN under a high-speed Ethernet hub 61 to realize local high-speed CSS. It is a thing. Here, when a client connected to the conventional Ethernet joins the high speed CSS, the conventional Ethernet adapter is replaced with a new high speed Ethernet adapter.

[0006]

The network system required by a high-performance machine group exceeding 100 MIPS is not limited to the local high-speed CSS as shown in FIG.
In a large-scale network such as a multi-client server system as shown in FIG. 7, how to incorporate a conventional client into a high-speed CSS becomes a problem.

Conventional clients have already been equipped with conventional adapters such as Ethernet, and it is not realistic to replace them with new high-performance adapters in a large-scale network due to the high cost. On the other hand, even when the conventional Ethernet adapter is reused, it is important to occupy 10 Mbps between the nodes so that the speed can be increased in the conventional network.

The conventional 10 Mbps LAN has a star type structure mainly using a hub (concentrator). Therefore, in this hub, 10Mbps LAN and 100Mbps
A speed conversion means between sLANs and a switching connection means between 10 Mbps nodes will be provided. There is also a means of incorporating a hub adapter having the same function in the server.

It is an object of the present invention to integrate a conventional client into a high-speed CSS network at a low cost by using these means, and to realize a high-speed conventional LAN.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Conventional 10 Mbps LA
In order to accommodate N and connect with 100 Mbps LAN,
In place of the conventional hub (concentrator) for 10 Mbps LAN, a hub having the following means is realized.

First, 10 Mbps port and 100 Mbps
A buffer for temporarily holding a packet requesting transfer between the s-ports is provided and used for transfer rate conversion. Next, all 10 Mbps ports on the hub are 10
In order to occupy Mbps, a means for performing protocol control is provided so as to accept packets from each port within a range that the buffer can accept.

Also, by transferring some of the functions required for the above transfer rate conversion into the server, it is possible to select a method in which the functions provided in the hub are reduced and the cost is further reduced. In this case, the server is provided with an adapter having a 100 Mbps hub function, while the hub side is provided with means for multiplexing 10 Mbps packets with short fixed-length packets and transferring them at 100 Mbps. The server receives this and 100Mb
Convert to ps packet format, and other 100M
A means for sending to the bps port is provided.

Further, there is a system in which all the hub functions are realized by a server built-in adapter. In that case, a means for utilizing the CPU and memory of the base server for speed conversion processing is provided to reduce the load on the adapter.

[0014]

A hub that accommodates a conventional 10 Mbps LAN is
By providing the buffer for temporarily storing the transfer packet, the transfer between the 10 Mbps port and the 100 Mbps port can be realized. Furthermore, in the transfer between the 10 Mbps ports, when the transfer to the same node overlaps, the packet can be stored in the buffer and the packet can be continuously transmitted from the buffer after the transfer is completed.

Next, by providing a means for performing protocol control so as to accept packets from each port within a range in which the buffer can be accepted, the next request is accepted after connecting the nodes based on the result of the destination address analysis. You can Furthermore, if the buffer limit is exceeded, it can be retransmitted.

Further, by providing means for multiplexing 10 Mbps packets with short fixed length packets and transferring at 100 Mbps between a server equipped with an adapter having a 100 Mbps hub function and a hub accommodating a 10 Mbps LAN. It is possible to reduce the load of the speed conversion process.

As described above, the conventional 10 Mbps LAN
A hub equipped with a means for connecting to a 100 Mbps LAN and having a means for connecting to a 100 Mbps LAN can be realized at a lower cost than a conventional high-performance hub, so that a conventional client can be manufactured at a low cost and at a high speed.
It can be integrated into the SS network and the conventional LAN can be speeded up.

[0018]

Embodiment 1 Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a LAN having different transfer rates, a 10 Mbps LAN adopting the CSMA / CD system,
An example of the internal configuration of the server 2 in which the hub adapter 1 equipped with a speed conversion unit for 100 Mbps LAN is installed is shown. The server 2 is a server with a built-in hub function that constitutes the multi-server client system shown in FIG.

The components of the server 2 include a CPU bus 3 and a high speed system bus 4, and a bus controller (BUS).
C) Connected at 5. The hub adapter 1 is connected to the high speed system bus 4.

This configuration is an example, and the hub adapter 1
The position of does not necessarily have to be as in this example. Figure 1
In this example, the hub adapter 1 is a high-speed system bus 4, B.
The memory 6 can be accessed via the USC 5 and the CPU bus 3. Similarly, the CPU 7 can access the hub adapter 1 by the reverse route.

The hub adapter 1 has a plurality of 10 Mbps ports 10 and 100 Mbps ports 11,
The number of ports depends on the physical size of the hub adapter 1. Here, 3 10Mbps ports 10, 1
There is one 00 Mbps port 11.

In addition to the above ports, the hub adapter 1 has a C
SMA / CD controller 12, 100 Mbps LAN protocol controller 13, internal bus 14, buffer 15 and DM
It is composed of an A controller 16 and the like.

First, the buffer 15 is 10 Mbps LA.
It is used when the transfer between the N terminal 17 and the 100 Mbps LAN and the transfer to the same node overlap. When the transfer is overlapped to the same node, the packet transmission is performed from the buffer after the end of the previously accepted packet transmission.

Next, switching control between 10 Mbps LAN nodes will be described. CSMA / CD control unit 1
In 2, the transfer request from the 10 Mbps LAN terminal 17 is accepted in accordance with the separately determined priority order. Here, after connecting the nodes based on the result of the destination address analysis of the packet, the next request is accepted. This will be referred to as "destination switch operation".

By this destination switch operation and the packet exchange processing using the buffer 15 described above, each 10 Mbp
The sLAN terminal 17 can secure a bandwidth of 10 Mbps.

Further, the CSMA / CD control units 12 and 1
The 00 Mbps LAN protocol control unit 13 also has a flow control function of retransmitting when the transfer request from each node exceeds the buffer limit.

Regarding the processing required to execute the above-mentioned operations, a part of the processing is allocated to the CPU of the server 2 main body or the like, so that the amount of hardware in the hub adapter 1 can be suppressed, and the server 2 and the hub can be further reduced. The parallel operation of the adapter 1 is intended to speed up the processing.

Further, since the hub is realized as an adapter built into the server, the number of ports per adapter limits the number of terminals accommodated. As described above, the number of ports per adapter depends on the physical size of the adapter, so the number of adapters must be increased in order to increase the number of ports. Here, each adapter is locally connected (19), and the number of ports can be increased without burdening the system bus.

Next, another embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a 10 Mbps LAN adopting the CSMA / CD system as an example of LANs having different transfer rates.
An example of the internal configuration of the server 2 in which the hub adapter 201 having another speed conversion means is installed between the 100 Mbps LAN and the LAN is shown. The components of the server 2 are the same as those in FIG. 1, and the hub adapter 201 is connected to the high speed system bus 4.

The hub adapter 201 comprises a plurality of 100 Mb
Although the ps port 211 is provided, the number of ports depends on the physical size of the hub adapter 201. Here, it is assumed that there are four 100 Mbps ports 211.

Here, 10 Mbps LAN and 100 M
The hub adapter 201 is used as the speed conversion means with the bps LAN.
And 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hubs 208 are provided in a distributed manner. The 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208 is
Ten 10Mbps LAN ports 210, CSMA /
CD control unit 212, 100 Mbps LAN port 21
10 Mbps packet multiplex processing unit 209 connected to
It is composed of an internal bus 221 and a buffer 220.

First, the buffer 220 and the CSMA / CD
The control unit 212 uses the buffer 1 in the hub adapter 1 of FIG.
5 and the CSMA / CD control unit 12 operates similarly. Therefore, each 10 Mbps LAN terminal 17 connected to this 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208 is 10 Mbps in FIG.
As with the sLAN terminal 17, a bandwidth of 10 Mbps can be secured.

Next, the 10 Mbps packet multiplexing processor 2
The operation of 09 will be described. Here, each 10 Mbps
As shown in FIG. 5, the 10 Mbps packet 51 is divided into short fixed-length packets 52 for multiplexing in order to perform transfer with a 100 Mbps LAN node while securing a bandwidth of 10 Mbps in the LAN terminal 17.

Since the speed ratio of the two LANs subject to speed conversion is 1 to 10, in the above packet division, only means for discriminating between the fixed length packets 52 is added, and the hub adapter on the receiving side is added. In 201, the original packet is assembled based on the transfer order of the packet 52 shown in FIG.

Generally, when the speed ratio is 1: N,
The hub 208 has a port number of N or less, and a high-speed LAN
Next, the side is divided into N pieces and packet multiplex transfer as shown in FIG. 5 is performed.

Further, the packet multiplex processing section 209 is provided with means for notifying the other party of the packet multiplex transfer when a transfer request is made. On the other hand, in the hub adapter 201, 100 Mbps LAN protocol control + 100 Mbps
Normal 100 Mbps in the psLAN conversion processing unit 213
A means for distinguishing between LAN transfer and the packet multiplex transfer by the notifying means is provided, and the input division multiplex packet is reassembled into a normal packet.

By providing one hub adapter 201 and one 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208 described above, the number of accommodating terminals per adapter can be increased as compared with the hub adapter shown in FIG. In this example, the number of 100 Mbps ports is three times, and the number of 10 Mbps ports is 10/3 times.

Similar to the example of FIG. 1, with regard to the processing required to execute the above-described operations, a part of the processing is allocated to the CPU of the server 2 main body so that the amount of hardware in the hub adapter 201 is reduced. Suppress, and also server 2
And the hub adapter 201 are operated in parallel to speed up the processing.

Also, hub adapters 1 and 2 with a built-in server
Since 01 can locally connect (219) between the adapters, the number of ports can be increased without burdening the system bus.

As the other party to which the 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208 can carry out the packet multiplex transfer, in addition to the server 2 having the hub adapter 201 built-in, as shown in FIG.
There is a 00 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 301. 100M
The functions required for the packet multiplex transfer process of the previous period included in the bpsLAN accommodating hub are the same as those of the hub adapter 201.
However, regarding these processes, the hub adapter 201
Different from the above, part of the processing cannot be assigned to the server, so all processing is performed within the hub 301.

The configuration as shown in FIG. 3 can accommodate more 100 Mbps terminals in the high speed CSS than the configuration as shown in FIG.

Regarding the communication port from the protocol control unit 309 in the hub 301, here, 10
Although it is set to 0 Mbps LAN, it is also possible to add a conversion means to another LAN and use it as a LAN connection port.

Subsequently, another embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the internal configuration of the server 2 in which the hub adapter 401 having only a 100 Mbps LAN port is installed. The components of the server 2 are the same as those in FIG. 1, and the hub adapter 401 is connected to the high speed system bus 4.

The hub adapter 401 includes a plurality of 100 Mb
Although the psLAN port 411 is provided, the number of ports depends on the physical size of the hub adapter 401.
Here, the number of ports is four.

Here, 10 Mbps LAN and 100 M
All the speed conversion means with bpsLAN are 10 MbpsL
It is provided in the AN accommodation hub 408. 10 Mbps L
The AN accommodating hub 408 includes ten 10 Mbps LAN ports 410, CSMA / CD control units 412 and 100 Mb.
It is composed of a 10 Mbps speed conversion unit 409 connected to the psLAN port 411, an internal bus 421, a buffer 420, and the like.

First, the buffer 420 and the CSMA / CD
The control unit 412 uses the buffer 1 in the hub adapter 1 of FIG.
5 and the CSMA / CD control unit 12 operates similarly. Therefore, each 10 Mbps LAN terminal 17 connected to the 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408 has a 10 Mbps LAN of FIG.
As with the sLAN terminal 17, a bandwidth of 10 Mbps can be secured.

Next, the operation of the 10 Mbps speed conversion unit 409 will be described. In this example, while keeping the bandwidth of 10 Mbps for each 10 Mbps LAN terminal 17, 100
The buffer 420 has a sufficient capacity to store one or more packets from each of the 10 10 Mbps LAN ports for transfer with the Mbps LAN node.

The 10 Mbps speed conversion unit 409 extracts packets from the buffer 420 on a first-come-first-served basis, and outputs 100M packets.
It transmits at 100 Mbps according to the bps LAN protocol. The hub adapter 401 on the receiving side need only perform normal 100 Mbps LAN protocol control.

By including one hub adapter 401 and one 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408 as described above, the accommodating terminal per adapter is larger than that of the hub adapter shown in FIG. 1 as in the example of FIG. You can increase the number. In this example, 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 40
Since all speed conversion processing means are collected in FIG. 8, the load on the hub adapter 401 is lighter than that of the hub adapter 201 in FIG.

Also, as in the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, the hub adapters 1, 201 and 401 built into the server can connect (419) locally between the adapters, so that the ports can be connected without burdening the system bus. The number can be expanded.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a server that constitutes a multi-server client system, by incorporating a hub adapter equipped with a speed conversion unit for 10 Mbps LAN and 100 Mbps LAN, a conventional 10 Mbps terminal can be used as it is for high-speed CS.
Can be incorporated into S.

Further, by providing the packet storage buffer and the switching control means between the 10 Mbps nodes in the hub adapter, each 10 Mbps terminal connected to the hub adapter can secure the bandwidth of 10 Mbps.

Further, by installing a plurality of the hub adapters in the server and providing each hub adapter with means for locally connecting between the hub adapters, the server bus without burdening the system bus in the server can be provided. The number of ports on the built-in hub can be increased.

As a result, the conventional 10 Mbps LAN itself can be speeded up by directly connecting the conventional 10 Mbps terminal to the server built-in hub.

In addition to the hub adapter, 10M
100 Mbps LA, which accommodates a bps terminal and is provided with the inter-node switching control means similar to the hub adapter.
A hub for connecting to N is provided, and this hub adapter is
By providing the interface means with the Mbps terminal accommodating hub, it is possible to increase the number of 10 Mbps terminals that can be accommodated by one hub adapter.

As a result, the speed of the conventional LAN can be increased, and more 10 Mbps terminals can be accommodated in the high-speed CSS, so that it is possible to expand to a larger-scale high-speed CSS.

In the conventional 10 Mbps terminal connected to the hub and the communication adapter according to the present invention, the bandwidth of 10 Mbps is secured in each connected node.
10 Mbps even with another 10 Mbps terminal at a distant position via the hub and the communication adapter according to the present invention.
Communication that secures the bandwidth of s is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a server including a hub adapter that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a server including a hub adapter according to another embodiment of the present invention and a conventional 10 Mbps according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the structural example of CSS comprised by a terminal accommodation hub.

FIG. 3 is a conventional 10 Mbp which is an embodiment of the present invention in FIG.
s terminal accommodating hub and 100 Mb which is an embodiment of the present invention
It is a figure which shows the structural example of CSS comprised by a ps terminal accommodation hub.

FIG. 4 is a server having a hub adapter according to another embodiment of the present invention and a conventional 10 Mbp according to another embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the structural example of CSS comprised by an s terminal accommodation hub.

FIG. 5 is a conventional 10 Mbp which is an embodiment of the present invention in FIG.
It is a figure which shows the mode of 10 Mbps packet division multiplexing performed in a hub accommodating s terminals.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a local high-speed CSS.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a multi-client server system.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Hub adapter provided with the speed conversion means of 10 Mbps LAN and 100 Mbps LAN, 2 ... Server provided with the hub adapter 1, 10 ... 10 Mbps port which is a component of the hub adapter 1, 11 ... 100 Mbps which is a component of the hub adapter 1.
Ports, 12 ... CSMA / CD control unit, 13 ... 100 Mbps LAN protocol control unit, 14 ... Hub adapter 1 internal bus, 15 ... Hub adapter 1 built-in buffer, 16 ... Hub adapter 1 internal DMA controller, 19 ... Between hub adapters 1 Local connection, 201 ... Hub adapter provided with a part of speed converting means for 10 Mbps LAN and 100 Mbps LAN, 208 ... 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub with part of speed converting means for 10 Mbps LAN and 100 Mbps LAN, 209 ... Equipped with 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208 1
0 Mbps packet multiplexing processing unit, 210 ... 10 Mbps port which is a constituent element of the 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208, 211 ... 100 Mbps port which is a constituent element of the hub adapter 201 and the 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208, 212 ... CSMA of the 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208
/ CD control unit, 213 ... 100 Mbps LAN protocol control and 10 Mbps packet disassembling and assembling unit of hub adapter 201, 214 ... Internal bus of hub adapter 201, 215 ... Hub adapter 201 built-in buffer, 216 ... DMA controller in hub adapter 201, 219 ... Hub Local connection between the adapter 1 and the hub adapter 201, 220 ... 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208 built-in buffer, 221 ... 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 208 internal bus, 301 ... Hub having part of speed conversion means for 10 Mbps LAN and 100 Mbps LAN, 309 ... 100 Mbps LAN protocol control unit provided in the hub 301, 311 ... 100 Mbps port that is a constituent element of the hub 301, 313 ... 100 Mbps LAN protocol of the hub 301 Control and 10 Mbps packet disassembling and assembling unit, 314 ... Internal bus of hub 301, 315 ... Hub 301 built-in buffer, 401 ... Hub adapter for accommodating 100 Mbps LAN, 408 ... 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub equipped with speed conversion means for 10 Mbps LAN and 100 Mbps LAN, 409 ... 1 provided in the 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408
0 Mbps LAN and 100 Mbps LAN speed conversion processing unit, 410 ... 10 Mbps port which is a constituent element of 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408, 411 ... 100 Mbps port which is a constituent element of hub adapter 401 and 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408, 412 ... CSMA of 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408
/ CD control unit, 413 ... 100 Mbps LAN protocol control unit of hub adapter 401, 414 ... Internal bus of hub adapter 401, 415 ... Hub adapter 401 internal buffer, 416 ... DMA controller in hub adapter 401, 419 ... Hub adapter 1 and hub adapter Local connection between 401, 420 ... 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408 built-in buffer, 421 ... 10 Mbps LAN accommodating hub 408 internal bus, 51 ... 10 Mbps variable length packet, 52 ... Short fixed length packet.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A communication adapter connectable to a system bus or an I / O bus of a computer system, comprising several types of LAN (Local Area Network) having different transfer rates.
k), equipped with transfer rate conversion means for each LAN communication, and the fastest LAN among the LANs.
A communication adapter characterized by having a plurality of communication ports for at least one type of LAN among LANs slower than a quarter and having a hub function for the LAN. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of LAN communication ports adopting the CSMA / CD system are provided, and four LAN communication ports are provided.
With at least one LAN port that is more than twice as fast, the former L
A communication adapter comprising transfer rate conversion means between the AN and the latter high-speed LAN. 3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the corresponding nodes are connected to each other based on the result of the destination address analysis of the packet input from any one of the LANs handled by the communication adapter, and the communication is not waited for. A communication adapter, which is provided with means for executing communication between a plurality of nodes at the same time by having a function of receiving the next communication request. 4. The communication adapter according to claim 1, further comprising means for directly communicating with a plurality of the communication adapters by a signal line interconnecting with each other. 5. A hub for accommodating a plurality of LAN communication ports adopting the CSMA / CD system, comprising one or more LAN ports 4 times or more faster than the LAN, and transmitting packets of the former LAN. A hub comprising means for time division multiplexing and transmitting to the latter high-speed LAN. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the corresponding nodes are connected to each other based on the result of the destination address analysis of the packet input from any one of the LANs handled by the communication adapter, and then the communication is not waited for. A hub characterized by comprising means for executing communication between a plurality of nodes at the same time by providing a function of receiving the next communication request. 7. A communication adapter connectable to a system bus or an I / O bus of a computer system, which receives the time division multiplexed packet transmitted by the hub according to claim 5, reassembles the packet, and reassembles the high speed LAN. And a plurality of ports of the high-speed LAN, the communication adapter. 8. A hub accommodating a plurality of LAN communication ports, which is four times faster than a LAN adopting the CSMA / CD system, receives the time division multiplexed packet transmitted by the hub of claim 5, and transmits the packet. A hub comprising means for reassembling and transmitting to another node of the high-speed LAN. 9. A hub for accommodating a plurality of LAN communication ports adopting the CSMA / CD system, wherein the LAN and a LAN having a transfer rate four times or more faster than that of the LAN are handled, and transfer rates in communication between the respective LANs are handled. A hub comprising a conversion means. 10. The communication system according to claim 9, wherein the corresponding nodes are connected to each other based on the result of the destination address analysis of the packet input from one of the LANs handled by the communication adapter, and then the communication is not waited for. A hub characterized by comprising means for executing communication between a plurality of nodes at the same time by providing a function of receiving the next communication request.