Importance

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Abstract

A bin packing algorithm is employed to schedule computer network activities, such as pause times required for operation of an Ethernet network which implements existing IEEE 802.3x standards. In such a network, any node in the network can control the flow of traffic from upstream stations in order to avoid congestion at the flow-controlling node. Upon sensing congestion, the flow-controlling node determines how long each upstream node contributing to the congestion should pause transmission over the next control interval. In accordance with the invention, the pause times are scheduled or staggered by using the bin packing algorithm to sort the sources into one or more bins. One required bin property is that there is no overlap in pause times for the sources within a particular bin. Another required bin property is that the sum of the pause times within a bin can be no greater than the length of the control interval. In a preferred embodiment, the calculated pause times are separated into different groups having different number ranges and no more than one pause time is selected from any particular group for packing into a given bin.

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First Claim