46 results about "Energy-Efficient Ethernet" patented technology

Training, refreshing and / or updating Ethernet link partners for silent channels and / or silent directions of channels may be determined based on control parameters. This may be used to improve energy efficiency in Ethernet communication. Control parameters may comprise a default value and / or may be determined based on prior training, refreshing and / or updating. New values for the control parameters may be generated based on a magnitude of change between current and prior control parameter values or based on performance such as bit error rate. User input may be utilized to determine when to execute the training, refreshing and / or updating. The training, refreshing and / or updating may be done for one or more of a near-end crosstalk canceller, alien near-end crosstalk canceller, far-end crosstalk canceller, alien far-end crosstalk canceller and echo canceller. After the training, refreshing and / or updating, the silent channels may transition to active and / or may remain silent.

An energy efficient Ethernet physical layer (PHY) device including an EEE control module configured to generate a control signal to transition the PHY device into a low power consumption mode based an operating condition, and a pause frame generator module responsive to the control signals to generate a pause frame. The pause frame generator module is configured to send the pause frame to a media access control (MAC) device to reduce an incoming flow of data packets from the MAC device to the PHY device for a pause time duration. In operation, the pause frame generator module generates the pause frame including a pause time indicating the length of time for the PHY device to be in the low power consumption mode. The value of the pause time for each pause frame is determined adaptively based on the amount of data traffic to be transmitted from the PHY device.

A method of reducing Ethernet power consumption in a network having an operating system by reducing an Ethernet link speed to a minimum rate required for current data link traffic, and automatically commanding an Ethernet adapter / cable to decrease or increase a link rate by dynamically auto-negotiating an Ethernet port by IEEE standards to a lower or higher link rate without user intervention.

Aspects of a method and system for implementing energy efficient Ethernet techniques in a MACSec enabled PHY are provided. In this regard, an Ethernet PHY comprising memory may be operable to perform packet processing functions comprising MACSec protocol processing and energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) processing. In this regard, the memory may be utilized for implementing the MACSec protocol processing and energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) processing. The Ethernet packet processing functions may comprise packet inspection, packet generation, and packet modification. The energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) processing may comprise generating and / or inspecting messages for controlling when to transition into and out-of an energy-saving mode. The Ethernet PHY may be operable to monitor signals and / or conditions within the Ethernet PHY and control transitions into and out-of an energy-saving mode based on the monitored signals and / or conditions. The energy saving mode may comprise a low power idle mode and / or a subset PHY mode.

Aspects of a method and system for optimized power management for a network device supporting PCI-E and energy efficient Ethernet are provided. In this regard, in a network interface controller that supports energy efficient Ethernet, a PCI-E core may be transitioned from a low power PCI-E state to a full power PCI-E state when a PHY core in the network interface controller initiates transition from a low power mode to a full power mode and before the PHY core receives an Ethernet packet. In another embodiment, the PHY core in the network interface controller may be transitioned from a low power mode to a full power mode when the PCI-E core initiates transition from a low power PCI-E state to a full power PCI-E state, and before the PCI-E core receives a command to send an Ethernet packet.

A physical layer (PHY) in a network device may provide self-adapting power reduction based on monitoring of activity associated with an interface between the PHY and remaining components of the network device. The power management operations of the PHY may then be configured and / or adjusted based on that monitoring. The PHY may comprise an Ethernet PHY, which may support energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) features. The monitored interface may comprise a Media Independent Interface (MII) based interface. In instances where the monitored activity comprises outbound traffic, outbound data received via the interface may be buffered when at least one subcomponent of the PHY that is operable to support transmission of the outbound traffic is unavailable due to the power management operations. The buffering may be configured to last to allow sufficient time to reactivate the at least one subcomponent.

Embodiments of the present invention enable robust and quick parallel detection of the remote LPI request signal (rem_lpi_req) and SEND ZERO mode (SEND_Z) defined in the Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard. Embodiments do not rely on energy detection for detecting SEND_Z. Therefore, SEND_Z can be detected reliably and with minimal latency. In addition, since SEND_Z and rem_lpi_req are detected in parallel, embodiments are not concerned with the false detection of rem_lpi_req (before SEND_Z is detected) or the need to disable detection of rem_lpi_req (after SEND_Z is detected).

An ethernet transceiver integrated circuit chip is disclosed including a plurality of transceivers for coupling to a corresponding plurality of physical channels. A channel switcher is coupled to the plurality of transceivers. During a first mode of operation, the channel switcher activates all of the plurality of transceivers to transceive data in accordance with a first aggregate data transfer rate. During a second mode of operation, the channel switcher activates less than all of the plurality of transceivers to transceive data in accordance with a second aggregate data rate that is less than the first aggregate data transfer rate.

Aspects of a method and system for a distinct physical pattern on an active channel to indicate a data rate transition for energy efficient Ethernet. In this regard, one or more distinct physical patterns may be transmitted on one or more active channels of a network link during an inter-packet gap to control a data rate on the link. The unique physical pattern may be transmitted instead of or in addition to one or more IDLE symbols. The distinct physical pattern may communicate a data rate to be utilized on the link and / or indicate when a data rate transition should occur on the link. The distinct pattern may be transmitted and / or the data rate transition may occur during a specified inter-packet gap or during a specified packet boundary. The distinct physical pattern may comprise one or more control characters and / or an ordered set of voltage levels, symbols, and / or characters.

An Ethernet network comprises multi-rate link partners that may be operable to communicate symmetrically and / or asymmetrically via any of a plurality of channels. The multi-rate link partners may monitor one or more factors that may affect their power consumption and / or energy efficiency. During operation, an uplink and / or downlink communication rate may be configured, based on the monitoring, to enable asymmetrical data rate operation. The monitored factors may comprise prior or current data rates, bit error rate, packet error rate, latency, queued data and / or tasks, for example. The multi-rate link partners may comprise a twisted pair PHY, an optical PHY or a backplane PHY. In order to reduce power consumption and / or improve energy efficiency, one or more of the uplink communication rate and / or the downlink communication rate may be lowered. The power consumption may be reduced for a multi-rate PHY, a host computer and / or a MAC controller.

A system and method for enabling legacy media access control (MAC) to do energy efficient Ethernet (EEE). A backpressure mechanism is included in an EEE enhanced PHY that is responsive to a detected need to transition between various power modes of the EEE enhanced PHY. Through the backpressure mechanism, the EEE enhanced PHY can indicate to the legacy MAC that transmission of data is to be deferred due to a power savings initiative in the EEE enhanced PHY.

An Ethernet link may comprise silent and active channels and may support energy efficient Ethernet communication. Training parameters from the one or more active channels may be utilized for determining and / or adjusting training parameters for silent channels prior to activation. Training parameters for silent channels may be determined based on copying training parameters from active channels. Determination of training parameters for silent channels may be based on a weighted average of the active channel training parameters. A delta between active channel training parameters from a prior time and subsequent time may be utilized to determine a correction factor for adjusting training parameters for a silent channel from a prior time. Silent channels may be adjusted based on active channel training parameters and then subsequently may be trained. Training parameters may be adjusted for one or more of an echo canceller, a near-end crosstalk canceller and a far-end canceller.

A system and method for enabling fallback states for energy efficient Ethernet (EEE). EEE devices can be designed to support multiple power saving states that impact layers higher than the PHY layer. Typically, these higher levels of power savings would require a greater period of time to accommodate a return to an active state. In a dynamic negotiation process, the receiving device can advertise multiple fallback power saving states to the transmitting device. The transmitting device's allocation of buffering can then determine which of the power saving states would be supported.

An Ethernet link may comprise a plurality of active and / or silent channels. Training of one or more link partners for one or more silent channels may be triggered based on monitoring training parameters for an active channel. The link partners may be trained for the silent channels and link partners corresponding to the silent channels may be configured according to the training. Training parameters for an active channel may be compared to a threshold or relative change value. The threshold or relative change value may be fixed, may be based on measurement results and / or may be programmable. The link partners may be configured for silent channels for an echo canceller, a far-end crosstalk canceller and / or a near-end crosstalk canceller. The silent channels may be trained based on transmitting a pulse or LDPC frame via the silent channels.

A method and apparatus for enabling low power idle (LPI) signaling for Ethernet transceivers operating in legacy modes are disclosed that allow a high speed transceiver to retain energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) functionality even when the transceiver is operating in a slower speed mode. In some embodiments, an Ethernet device may enter an LPI mode upon receiving a regular LPI signal when its media independent interface (MII) is operating at a first transmission rate, and may enter the LPI mode upon receiving a modified LPI signal when the MII is operating at a first speed operating at a second transmission rate that is slower than the first transmission rate.

A system and method for adjusting an energy efficient Ethernet (EEE). An EEE-enabled device can be designed to report EEE event data. This reported EEE event data can be used to quantify the actual EEE benefits of the EEE-enabled device, debug the EEE-enabled device, and adjust the EEE control policy.

The embodiment of the invention discloses a CDR (Clock Data Recovery) circuit and a terminal. The CDR circuit is used for carrying out clock synchronization in a terminal for achieving an EEE (Energy Efficient Ethernet) function; and the CDR circuit comprises a phase detector, a first phase signal selector, a loop filter, a numerically controlled oscillator, a second phase signal selector, a phase signal generator and a state machine. In the embodiment of the invention, after the terminal enters a refresh state from a quiesced state, the CDR circuit does not need to wait for the convergence of the loop filter and the numerically controlled oscillator to complete the clock synchronization with an opposite terminal, but a phase signal which meets preset clock synchronization conditions is generated by the phase signal generator and the second phase signal selector selects the phase signal which meets the preset clock synchronization conditions as a phase selected signal of CDR, so that the synchronization with the opposite terminal is rapidly implemented, the terminal can receive data sent by the opposite terminal when entering a normal working mode and the terminal can be ensured to achieve the EEE function.

The invention provides energy efficient Ethernet with asymmetric low power idle. A low power idle mode is typically leveraged when both direction of a link do not have data traffic to transmit. Such a requirement reduces the application of low power idle due to the frequent existence of data traffic in only one direction. An asymmetric low power idle mode enables reduction in power consumption and signal emissions even when one direction has data traffic to transmit.

The invention discloses a method for realizing energy-saving statistics in an Ethernet switching chip and a system for realizing energy-saving statistics in the Ethernet switching chip. By means of an embedded SRAM (static random access memory), a calendar controller and a calendar register set are used for controlling and refreshing statistics in the SRAM of a selected register port, wherein the statistics include trigger times and trigger time values of the selected register port, and when the statistics in the SRAM exceed a certain threshold value, the SRAM reports to a CPU (central processing unit) to read the statistics. The method is capable of accurately making statistics on energy-saving information of the energy efficient Ethernet, the area of the chip can be saved, cost and power consumption can be reduced, and different physical port shapes of exchangers can be flexibly supported.

Nowadays, electronic product designs are aimed at saving, due to the trend to reduce energy consumption and carbon output. Ethernet technology has also been aimed specifically at saving energy; IEEE P802.3az standard (Energy Efficient Ethernet, EEE), for Ethernet released by Broadcom is one example. The disclosure turns off the phase-locked loop when the network communication stops, effectively saving the energy consumption of the network chip under the EEE standard. In the case of network reconnection, the disclosure turns on the phase-locked loop to start the network communication through adjusting the current of current source and the parameters of a low pass filter to increase the charging speed for the reference voltage generation of the low pass filter. The disclosure then shortens the start-up time to quickly output the standard output frequency and phase of the phase-locked loop.

Ethernet link partners within an Ethernet network, coupled via an Ethernet link comprising one or more channels may be configured to operate in simplex mode based on determined condition(s) during communications via the one or more channels. The determined condition(s) may comprise utilization or load, current / past conditions and / or link statistics that may comprise one or more of packet error rate (PER), bit error rate (BER), and / or signal to noise ratio (SNR). In addition, one or more of the channels may be transitioned to a lower power mode with a zero data rate. In some embodiments of the invention, one or more of a plurality of operational changes may occur during simplex mode operation. For example, power may lowered for one or more components that enable communication such as receivers, transmitters, near-end cross talk cancellers, far-end cross talk cancellers and / or echo cancellers.

Training, refreshing and / or updating Ethernet link partners for silent channels and / or silent directions of channels may be determined based on control parameters. This may be used to improve energy efficiency in Ethernet communication. Control parameters may comprise a default value and / or may be determined based on prior training, refreshing and / or updating. New values for the control parameters may be generated based on a magnitude of change between current and prior control parameter values or based on performance such as bit error rate. User input may be utilized to determine when to execute the training, refreshing and / or updating. The training, refreshing and / or updating may be done for one or more of a near-end crosstalk canceller, alien near-end crosstalk canceller, far-end crosstalk canceller, alien far-end crosstalk canceller and echo canceller. After the training, refreshing and / or updating, the silent channels may transition to active and / or may remain silent.

Energy efficient Ethernet with a low power active idle transmission mode. A low power active idle transmission mode is defined for the transmission of idle signals during inter-packet gaps. The low power active idle transmission mode can provide energy savings in those instances that preclude the use of a low power idle mode and / or subrating to produce greater energy savings.

A system and method for frequency division multiplexed high speed physical layer devices. A next generation Ethernet device can be generated through reuse of existing architectures. Multiple instantiations of an existing architecture can be supported on a given wire pair by frequency division multiplexing on a number of carriers. The multiple instantiations can enable multiple modes that can support different configurations, variable rates, and energy efficient Ethernet.

An energy efficient Ethernet physical layer (PHY) device including an EEE control module configured to generate a control signal to transition the PHY device into a low power consumption mode based an operating condition, and a pause frame generator module responsive to the control signals to generate a pause frame. The pause frame generator module is configured to send the pause frame to a media access control (MAC) device to reduce an incoming flow of data packets from the MAC device to the PHY device for a pause time duration. In operation, the pause frame generator module generates the pause frame including a pause time indicating the length of time for the PHY device to be in the low power consumption mode. The value of the pause time for each pause frame is determined adaptively based on the amount of data traffic to be transmitted from the PHY device.

A method and apparatus for enabling low power idle (LPI) signaling for Ethernet transceivers operating in legacy modes are disclosed that allow a high speed transceiver to retain energy efficient Ethernet (EEE) functionality even when the transceiver is operating in a slower speed mode. In some embodiments, an Ethernet device may enter an LPI mode upon receiving a regular LPI signal when its media independent interface (MII) is operating at a first transmission rate, and may enter the LPI mode upon receiving a modified LPI signal when the MII is operating at a first speed operating at a second transmission rate that is slower than the first transmission rate.

The invention discloses an implementation method of a prediction-based 40-100Gbps Ethernet energy saving strategy. An IEEE 802.3bj standard defines two energy-saving states of Fast Wake and Deep Sleepfor 40-100Gbps Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE), and energy saving quantity and state transition delay corresponding to the different energy saving states are different. The prediction-based 40-100Gbps Ethernet energy saving strategy periodically predicts the arrival number of data frames in a next cycle according to historical information on the premise of ensuring that data frame tail delay doesnot exceed predetermined expected delay, selects an energy saving state used in the next cycle, controls, on the basis of a current prediction result, timing of leaving an energy saving state by EEE,and thus obtains a better compromise on two aspects of increasing energy saving quantity and reducing tail delay time. Experimental results show that compared with an existing energy-saving strategy,the prediction-based 40-100Gbps Ethernet energy saving strategy disclosed by the invention can achieve a better energy saving effect while the tail delay of the data frames is controlled to be in expected values.