John Willard Drake

US Patent:

53675231, Nov 22, 1994

Filed:

Aug 26, 1993

Appl. No.:

8/112737

Inventors:

Rong-Feng Chang - Chai-yi, TW
John E. Drake - Pittsboro NC
Levent Gun - Durham NC
Lap T. Huynh - Cary NC

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H04J 322

US Classification:

370 84

Abstract:

An end-to-end, closed loop flow and congestion control system for packet communications networks exchanges rate request and rate response messages between data senders and receivers to allow the sender to adjust the data rate to avoid congestion and to control the data flow. Requests and responses are piggy-backed on data packets and result in changes in the input data rate in a direction to optimize data throughput. GREEN, YELLOW and RED operating modes are defined to increase data input, reduce data input and reduce data input drastically, respectively. Incremental changes in data input are altered non-linearly to change more quickly when further away from the optimum operating point than when closer to the optimum operating point.

US Patent:

54616115, Oct 24, 1995

Filed:

Jun 7, 1994

Appl. No.:

8/255219

Inventors:

John E. Drake - Pittsboro NC
Elizabeth A. Hervatic - Cary NC
Joseph W. Pace - Cary NC
Ralph J. Potok - Cary NC
David E. Taber - Wake Forest NC

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H04Q 1100

US Classification:

370 54

Abstract:

A management system for local area networks ensures selected levels of quality of service to all transmission requests submitted to the management system. This management system is attached to the network and receives requests from all other stations on the network to reserve facilities for a particular quality of service data stream. An allocator in the management system determines if the requested facilities are available and, if so, reserves these facilities for the requesting station. If the facilities are not available, the request is denied. A hierarchical data base containing all of the current parameters of all of the network resources and all of the currently supported data streams is used to support the allocation process.

US Patent:

53655230, Nov 15, 1994

Filed:

Nov 16, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/976826

Inventors:

Jeffrey H. Derby - Chapel Hill NC
Willibald A. Doeringer - Langnau, CH
John E. Drake - Pittsboro NC
Douglas H. Dykeman - Rueschlikon, CH
Liang Li - Chapel Hill NC
Marcia L. Peters - Pittsboro NC
Haldon J. Sandick - Durham NC
Ken Van Vu - Cary NC

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H04L 1246
H04L 1266

US Classification:

370 852

Abstract:

Access agents in nodes at the LAN/WAN interface are formed into a group of access agents so that the access agents may be managed by the WAN as a group. The group must maintain group operation integrity in that if communications between agents in the group are broken, the access agents will coalesce into subgroups and continue performing communication jobs as a group activity. Each of the access agents contains a finite state machine to perform the tasks of group formation and maintenance. The formation of interconnected access agents into a group is accomplished by one access agent being identified as a group leader. All other access agents communicating with the group leader within the LAN may then join the group. The maintenance of group activity integrity is accomplished by detecting a break in group communication integrity and thereafter reforming the group into multiple smaller groups. The maintenance of group operation integrity also includes the merger of small groups into a large group when a bridge is added between LAN segments.

US Patent:

53595939, Oct 25, 1994

Filed:

Aug 26, 1993

Appl. No.:

8/112736

Inventors:

Jeffrey H. Derby - Chapel Hill NC
John E. Drake - Pittsboro NC
Claude Galand - Cagnes Sur Mer, FR
Levent Gun - Durham NC
Gerald A. Marin - Chapel Hill NC
Allen L. Roginsky - Durham NC
Theodore E. Tedijanto - Cary NC

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H04J 314
H04L 1256

US Classification:

370 17

Abstract:

Access control for a packet communications network includes a dynamic bandwidth updating mechanism which continuously monitors the mean bit rate of the signal source and the loss probability of the connection. These values are filtered to remove noise and then used to test whether the values fall within a pre-defined acceptable adaptation region in the mean bit rate, loss probability plane. Values falling outside of this region trigger bandwidth updating procedures which, in turn, result in acquiring a new connection bandwidth, and determining new filter parameters and new parameters for a leaky bucket access mechanism.

US Patent:

54835224, Jan 9, 1996

Filed:

Nov 2, 1994

Appl. No.:

8/333194

Inventors:

Jeffrey H. Derby - Chapel Hill NC
John E. Drake - Pittsboro NC
John G. Dudley - Raleigh NC
Roch Guerin - Yorktown Heights NY
Marc A. Kaplan - Katonah NY
Gerald A. Marin - Chapel Hill NC
Marcia L. Peters - Pittsboro NC
Kenneth H. Potter - Raleigh NC

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corp. - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H04J 324
H04Q 1104
H04L 1256

US Classification:

370 54

Abstract:

Method and apparatus for managing internal-node communications in a packet switching network by calculating optimal routes for packets and addressing subnodes within packet nodes using a specific message format. Internal communication facilities called intranode links connect multiple subnodes within nodes. Each subnode contains a switching mechanism and routes packet to other nodes, subnodes, or user applications using a specific message format. The message format allows specific subnodes anywhere in the network to the addressed by any other subnode, making communications more efficient and simplifying the management of internode links.

US Patent:

53980123, Mar 14, 1995

Filed:

Nov 24, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/980854

Inventors:

Jeffrey H. Derby - Chapel Hill NC
Willibald A. Doeringer - Langnau, CH
John E. Drake - Pittsboro NC
Douglas H. Dykeman - Rueschlikon, CH
Haldon J. Sandick - Durham NC
Ken V. Vu - Cary NC

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H04Q 1104
H04L 1120

US Classification:

34082503

Abstract:

The process for determining the best communication route from a source end station to a destination end station is distributed over both source and destination network nodes. Network nodes, at the interface between a wide area network (WAN) and each subnetwork, contain access agents to control the communication flow between the wide area network and an end station in the subnetwork. The task of selecting the best route between two end stations is distributed between the access agents at the WAN interface in the first subnetwork, and the access agents at the WAN interface in the second subnetwork. Each access agent at one WAN interface obtains the best route from itself to the end station in its subnetwork. Each access agent at the other WAN interface finds the best route from each access agent at the first WAN interface through itself to the end station in its subnetwork. One designated access agent collects all the best route information.

US Patent:

54250218, Jun 13, 1995

Filed:

Jan 28, 1993

Appl. No.:

8/010136

Inventors:

Jeffrey H. Derby - Chapel Hill NC
John E. Drake - Pittsboro NC
John G. Dudley - Raleigh NC
Roch Guerin - Yorktown Heights NY
Marc A. Kaplan - Katonah NY
Gerald A. Marin - Chapel Hill NC
Marcia L. Peters - Pittsboro NC
Kenneth H. Potter - Raleigh NC

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

H04J 324
H04Q 1104
H04L 1256

US Classification:

370 54

Abstract:

Method and apparatus for making limited internal-node communication facilities externally visible in a packet switching network. Internal-node communication facilities are called intranode links, can include any cable, channel, bus, etc. over which data passes, and are used to connect the multiple subnodes within a given node. Each subnode contains a switching mechanism and routes packets to other nodes, subnodes, or user applications. Each node provides network control functions such as topology, directory, path selection, and bandwidth management which can manage intranode links in the same manner that internode links are currently managed.