Automatic switching method capable of adapting to gigabit network rate and 10-gigabit network rate

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate. In the SFP+ interface module of the SFP interface master device, a microcontroller MCU is provided; the microcontroller MCU is connected to the XFI signal input end through the MODULE_READY signal output line; the microcontroller MCU is connected to the I2C signal output end of the XFI through the I2C signal input line; the microcontroller MCU is connected to the register RTL through the SMI pin, and the register RTL establishes a bidirectional signal connection with the XFI signal input end and also establishes a bidirectional signal communication with the RJ45 interface; by controlling the MODULE_READY- signal of the SFP+ interface module to simulate manual hot plugging, the ten-gigabit or gigabit form information of the automatic switching module is automatically switched, and the ten-gigabit network interface module is dynamically switched into a gigabit network interface module.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an interface device for Ethernet communication, and more particularly to an automatic switching method capable of adapting to gigabit network rate and 10-gigabit network rate. Background Art

[0002] At present, most of the SFP+ (Small Form-factor Pluggables plus) interfaces of 10-gigabit switches and 10-gigabit network cards on the market support 10-gigabit (10GBase-R) and gigabit (1000Base-X) network rates. However, in actual applications, when users need to implement gigabit-rate network applications by inserting an SFP+ RJ45 (Registered Jack 45) network port module, the simplest implementation method in the prior art is to insert a 10-gigabit SFP+ RJ45 interface module. However, most of the existing 10-gigabit SFP+ RJ45 interface modules are designed with 10-gigabit physical layer chips (Physical Layer, PHY), and cannot achieve rate adaptation between the 10-gigabit (10GBase-R) interface and the gigabit (1000Base-TX) RJ45 interface of the SFP+ interface friendly, resulting in poor interface communication quality, serious packet loss, and even inability to communicate normally.

[0003] As Figure 1 shown Figure 1 is the connection structure of the SFP+ 10-gigabit module in the prior art using a 10-gigabit PHY chip (such as 88X3310 / MARVELL, AQR113C / MARVEL, BCM84891 / BROARDCOM). Due to the rate mismatch of 10GBASE-R of the SFP+ master device and the lack (even if there is, it is very weak) of the store-and-forward feature of the PHY, the rate matching problem of the SFP+ master device cannot be solved.

[0004] As Figure 1 shown, most of the SFP+ 10G-R protocol interfaces of 10-gigabit network switches do not support IEEE802.1X flow control. Therefore, when the SFP+ interface of the switch sends data to the module at a rate of 10GBits in the 10G-R protocol (greater than 1Gbits), the RJ45 interface of the module sends data at a maximum rate of 1000Mbits; the data packets exceeding 1000Mbits are temporarily stored in the frame buffer of 88X3310 / AQR113C. Since the buffer is too small, it overflows, and thus the data packets are discarded.

[0005] 1. The BCM84891 / BROARDCOM solution does not support the gigabit application of SFP+ interface devices.

[0006] 2.88X3310 / MARVELL, AQR113C / MARVEL adapts the rate through a very small data cache (10GR interface <-->[16KB BUFFER]<--->RJ45 network interface), and there are serious packet loss situations.

[0007] Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method that can dynamically and adaptively switch between gigabit / 10-gigabit rates when inserting an SFP+RJ45 interface module into the SFP+ interface. Summary of the Invention

[0008] Aiming at the deficiencies in the prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an automatic switching method that can adapt to gigabit network rates and 10-gigabit network rates, and this automatic switching method can solve the problem of rate matching.

[0009] To solve the above technical problem, the present invention is realized through the following solutions: An automatic switching method of the present invention that can adapt to gigabit network rates and 10-gigabit network rates. In the SFP+ interface module of the SFP interface master device, a microcontroller MCU is set;

[0010] The microcontroller MCU is connected to the XFI signal input terminal through the MODULE_READY signal output line;

[0011] The microcontroller MCU is connected to the I2C signal output terminal of the XFI through the I2C signal input line;

[0012] The microcontroller MCU is connected to the register RTL through the SMI pin. The register RTL establishes a bidirectional signal connection with the XFI signal input terminal and the register RTL also establishes a bidirectional signal communication with the RJ45 interface;

[0013] The automatic switching method includes the following steps:

[0014] S1. The microcontroller MCU continuously detects whether the connection rate of the RJ45 interface changes in real time, and automatically switches the SFP+ interface module to a gigabit form module or a 10-gigabit form module according to the rate change to output a signal;

[0015] S2. The microcontroller MCU actively notifies the SFP interface master device by simulating the plugging and unplugging actions of the SFP+ interface module, and simulates the information update of the plugging or unplugging state of the SFP+ interface module;

[0016] S3. The SFP+ interface module reads the content configuration of the A0 area of the SFF-8472 protocol through the IIC signal bus, switches the XFI signal input end of the SFP+ interface module to 10GBase-R or 1000Base-X, and maintains the same rate as the SFP+ RJ45 interface to establish a connection.

[0017] Further, the IIC signal bus is a bidirectional two-wire synchronous serial bus.

[0018] Further, the SFP+ interface module supports 10GBase-R (SFP+ interface) <---> 10GBase-T (RJ45 interface) and 1000Base-X (SFP interface) <---> 1000Base-Tx (RJ45 interface) communication, and the microcontroller MCU controls the content of the A0 area of the SFF-8472 protocol specification.

[0019] Further, the automatic switching method further includes the following steps:

[0020] S1. The microcontroller MCU detects whether the connection rate of the RJ45 interface changes:

[0021] S2. a). If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface is 10 Gigabit, the SFP+ interface module should be matched to a 10 Gigabit form module;

[0022] If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface is 1 Gigabit, the SFP+ interface module should be matched to a 1 Gigabit form module; when the real-time form of the SFP+ interface module does not match the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface, steps b or c are executed to switch the module form;

[0023] b). If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface is 1 Gigabit: Simulate hot unplugging of the SFP+ interface module, inform the SFP interface master device that it has been unplugged, wait for 2 seconds, then the microcontroller MCU reconfigures the content of the A0 area of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table to make the SFP+ interface module switch to a 1 Gigabit form module, and simulate hot insertion of the SFP, inform the SFP interface master device that it has been inserted; after execution, re-enter step a and wait for the next rate change;

[0024] c). If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface is 10 Gigabit: Simulate hot unplugging of the SFP+ interface module, inform the SFP interface master device that it has been unplugged, wait for 2 seconds, then the microcontroller MCU reconfigures the content of the A0 area of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table to make the SFP+ interface module switch to a 10 Gigabit form module, simulate hot insertion of the SFP+ interface module, inform the SFP interface master device that it has been inserted; after execution, re-enter step a and wait for the next rate change.

[0025] Furthermore, the SFP+ interface module needs to store variables representing module form switching information for at least 10 seconds, and can correctly switch forms after the SFP interface master device powers the SFP+ interface module again.

[0026] Furthermore, there are two methods for storing the variables representing the module form;

[0027] One of the methods is that a low-power MCU and a large-capacity ceramic capacitor energy storage can achieve time storage within 10 seconds;

[0028] The other method is to store through non-volatile RAM.

[0029] Further, the 6th pin of the SFP interface of the SFP+ interface module is the MODULE_READY- signal;

[0030] The microcontroller MCU controls the high and low levels of the MODULE_READY- signal to simulate a hot plug action to inform the SFP interface master device of the plugged-out and plugged-in state information of the SFP+ interface module.

[0031] Further, the 4th and 5th pins of the SFP interface of the SFP+ interface module are the IIC signal buses, and the SFP interface master device reads the content of the A0 area of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table of the SFP+ interface module through the IIC signal buses, so as to switch the interface mode of the SFP+ interface module inside the SFP interface master device.

[0032] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0033] 1. By controlling the MODULE_READY- signal of the SFP+ interface module to simulate manual hot plugging, automatically switch the module's 10 Gigabit or Gigabit form information, and dynamically switch the 10 Gigabit network interface module to a Gigabit network interface module.

[0034] 2. The SFP+ interface module dynamically and adaptively generates modules in various SFF-8742 forms by monitoring the RJ45 interface connection rate.

[0035] 3. When the RJ45 interface is connected to a Gigabit device, a Gigabit SFP module needs to be selected, while the 10 Gigabit SFP+ interface module of the present invention does not need to distinguish between Gigabit / 10 Gigabit SFP+ modules during use, which can reduce costs.

[0036] 4. The present invention can solve the problem of cascading a 10 Gigabit SFP+ interface device with a Gigabit network application, improving network maintainability.

[0037] 5. The present invention is applied to INTEL's X520, TPLINK's, and CISCO's network cards to solve the problem of packet loss when the network interface is connected to a Gigabit device.

[0038] 6. The present invention can solve the problem of packet loss when the network port is connected to a gigabit device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of the interface connection of the SFP interface master device in the prior art.

[0040] Figure 2 It is a structural diagram of the interface connection of the SFP interface master device of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 3 It is Figure 2 an enlarged view of the SFP+ interface module in

[0042] Figure 4 It is a flowchart of the automatic switching method of the present invention.

[0043] Reference numerals in the drawings: SFP interface master device 1, SFP+ interface module 3, laptop computer 4, desktop computer host 5, RJ45 interface 6, SFF-8472 protocol area A0 7. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0044] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, so that the advantages and features of the present invention can be more easily understood by those skilled in the art, thereby making a clearer and more definite definition of the protection scope of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described in the present invention are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0045] In addition, the technical features involved in different embodiments of the present invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0046] Embodiment 1: The specific structure of the present invention is as follows:

[0047] Please refer to the attached Figure 1 . An automatic switching method capable of adapting to gigabit network rate and 10-gigabit network rate, characterized in that the automatic switching method is to set a microcontroller MCU in the SFP+ interface module 3 of the SFP interface master device 1;

[0048] The microcontroller MCU is connected to the XFI signal input terminal through the MODULE_READY signal output line;

[0049] The microcontroller MCU is connected to the I2C signal output terminal of the XFI through the I2C signal input line;

[0050] The microcontroller MCU is connected to the register RTL through the SMI pin. The register RTL establishes a two-way signal connection with the XFI signal input terminal and also establishes two-way signal communication with the RJ45 interface 6. The RJ45 interface 6 is connected to the laptop 4 or the desktop computer host 5.

[0051] The automatic switching method includes the following steps:

[0052] S1. The microcontroller MCU continuously detects whether there is a change in the connection rate of the RJ45 interface 6 in real time, and automatically switches the SFP+ interface module 3 to a gigabit form module or a 10-gigabit form module according to the rate change to output a signal.

[0053] S2. The microcontroller MCU actively notifies the SFP interface master device 1 by simulating the plugging and unplugging actions of the SFP+ interface module 3, and simulates the information update of the plugging or unplugging state of the SFP+ interface module 3.

[0054] S3. The SFP+ interface module 3 reads the content configuration of the A0 area 7 of the current module's SFF-8472 protocol through the IIC signal bus, switches the XFI signal input terminal of the SFP+ interface module 3 to 10GBase-R or 1000Base-X, and maintains the same rate as the SFP+RJ45 interface 6 to establish a connection.

[0055] A preferred technical solution of this embodiment: The IIC signal bus is a two-way two-wire synchronous serial bus.

[0056] A preferred technical solution of this embodiment: The SFP+ interface module 3 supports 10GBase-R (SFP+ interface) <---> 10GBase-T (RJ45 interface 6) and 1000Base-X (SFP interface) <---> 1000Base-Tx (RJ45 interface 6) communication, and the microcontroller MCU controls the content of the A0 area of the SFF-8472 protocol specification.

[0057] A preferred technical solution of this embodiment: The automatic switching method further includes the following steps:

[0058] S1. The microcontroller MCU detects whether the connection rate of the RJ45 interface 6 changes:

[0059] S2. a). If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface 6 is 10 gigabits, the SFP+ interface module 3 should be matched to a 10-gigabit form module;

[0060] If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface 6 is gigabit, the SFP+ interface module 3 should be matched with a gigabit form module; when the real-time form of the SFP+ interface module 3 does not match the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface 6, steps b or c are executed to switch the module form;

[0061] b) If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface 6 is gigabit 1000Base-Tx: Simulate the hot unplugging of the SFP+ interface module 3, inform the SFP interface master device 1 that it has been unplugged, wait for 2 seconds, and then the microcontroller MCU reconfigures the content of area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table to make the SFP+ interface module 3 switch to a gigabit form module, and simulate the hot insertion of the SFP, inform the SFP interface master device 1 that it has been inserted; after execution, re-enter step a and wait for the next rate change;

[0062] c) If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface 6 is 10 gigabit 10GBase-T: Simulate the hot unplugging of the SFP+ interface module 3, inform the SFP interface master device 1 that it has been unplugged, wait for 2 seconds, and then the microcontroller MCU reconfigures the content of area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table to make the SFP+ interface module 3 switch to a 10-gigabit form module, simulate the hot insertion of the SFP+ interface module 3, and inform the SFP interface master device 1 that it has been inserted; after execution, re-enter step a and wait for the next rate change.

[0063] A preferred technical solution of this embodiment: The SFP+ interface module 3 needs to store variables representing module form switching information for at least 10 s, and can correctly switch the form after the SFP interface master device 1 powers on the SFP+ interface module 3 again.

[0064] A preferred technical solution of this embodiment: There are two methods for storing variables representing module forms;

[0065] One of the methods is: Low-power MCU and large-capacity ceramic chip capacitors for energy storage can achieve time storage within 10 seconds;

[0066] The other method is: Store through non-volatile RAM.

[0067] A preferred technical solution of this embodiment: The 6th pin of the SFP interface of the SFP+ interface module 3 is the MODULE_READY- signal;

[0068] The microcontroller MCU controls the high and low levels of the MODULE_READY- signal to simulate hot plugging actions to inform the SFP interface master device 1 of the unplugged and inserted state information of the SFP+ interface module 3.

[0069] A preferred technical solution of this embodiment: Pins 4 and 5 of the SFP interface of the SFP+ interface module 3 are the IIC signal buses. The SFP interface master device 1 reads the content of area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table of the SFP+ interface module 3 through the IIC signal buses, so as to switch the interface mode of the SFP+ interface module 3 inside the SFP interface master device 1.

[0070] Embodiment 2:

[0071] If it is necessary to realize the communication between two switch devices, one of the switch devices can support the insertion of a SFP+ interface with a 10Gigabit SFP+ interface, and the other switch device supports a Gigabit RJ45 network port. To realize the connection between the two, a SFP+RJ45 network port module that supports dynamic adaptive form switching can be directly inserted (i.e., Figure 2 the first SFP+ interface module 3 in

[0072] , and then the two are connected with a network cable to establish a physical link connection. After the SFP+RJ45 network port module with dynamic adaptive form switching is powered on, it starts to monitor the rate change of the RJ45 network port. When it is detected that the rate of the RJ45 network port does not match the current module form, the microcontroller MCU controls the high and low levels of the MOUDLE_READY- signal to simulate the hot plugging out of the SFP+ module, and informs the SFP interface master device 1 that the SFP+ interface module 3 has been unplugged. After waiting for two seconds, the content of area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol of the SFP+ interface module 3 is reconfigured to the configuration that matches the current rate, and then the hot plugging in of the SFP+ interface module 3 is simulated to inform the SFP interface master device 1 that the SFP+ interface module 3 has been plugged in. The SFP interface master device 1 reads the content of area A0 of the module SFF-8472 protocol through the IIC signal buses, and switches the rate mode of the SFP+ interface module 3 inside the SFP interface master device 1 to 10Gigabit 10GBase-R or Gigabit 1000Base-X to achieve the same rate as the SFP+RJ45 network port module to establish a link, so as to simply realize stable and high-quality communication between the two switch devices in this case.In summary, by controlling the MODULE_READY- signal of the SFP+ interface module to simulate manual hot plugging, automatically switch the module between 10 Gigabit and Gigabit form information, and dynamically switch the 10 Gigabit network interface module to a Gigabit network interface module. The SFP+ interface module dynamically and adaptively generates various modules in the SFF-8742 form by monitoring the connection rate of the RJ45 interface. When the RJ45 interface is connected to a Gigabit device, a Gigabit SFP module needs to be selected, while the 10 Gigabit SFP+ interface module of the present invention does not need to distinguish between Gigabit / 10 Gigabit SFP+ modules during use, which can reduce costs. The present invention can solve the problem of cascading a 10 Gigabit SFP+ interface device with a Gigabit network application and improve network maintainability. The present invention is applied to the network cards of INTEL's X520, TPLINK's, and CISCO's to solve the problem of packet loss when the network interface is connected to a Gigabit device. The present invention can solve the problem of packet loss when the network interface is connected to a Gigabit device.

[0073] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made by using the content of the specification and drawings of the present invention, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, shall be equally included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic switching method capable of adapting to gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate, characterized in that The automatic switching method is to set a microcontroller MCU in the SFP+ interface module (3) of the SFP interface master device (1); The microcontroller MCU is connected to the SFI signal input end through the MODULE_READY signal output line; The microcontroller MCU is connected to the I2C signal output end of the SFI through the I2C signal input line; The microcontroller MCU is connected to the register RTL through the SMI pin. The register RTL establishes a two-way signal connection with the SFI signal input end and the register RTL also establishes a two-way signal communication with the RJ45 interface (6); The automatic switching method includes the following steps: S1. The microcontroller MCU detects in real time whether the connection rate of the RJ45 interface (6) changes, and automatically switches the SFP+ interface module (3) to a gigabit form module or a 10-gigabit form module according to the rate change to output a signal; S2. The microcontroller MCU actively informs the SFP interface master device (1) by simulating the plugging and unplugging actions of the SFP+ interface module (3), and simulates the information update of the unplugged or inserted state of the SFP+ interface module (3); S3. The SFP+ interface module (3) reads the content configuration of the SFF-8472 protocol area A0 of the current module through the IIC signal bus, switches the SFI signal input end of the SFP+ interface module (3) to 10GBase-R or 1000Base-X, and keeps the same rate as the SFP+RJ45 interface (6) to establish a connection.

2. The automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate according to claim 1, characterized in that The IIC signal bus is a two-way two-wire synchronous serial bus.

3. The automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate according to claim 1, characterized in that The SFP+ interface module (3) supports communication between 10GBase-R, 10GBase-T and 1000Base-X, 1000Base-Tx, and the SFP+ interface module (3) supports the microcontroller MCU to control the content of area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol specification.

4. The automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate according to claim 1, wherein The automatic switching method further includes the following steps: S1. The microcontroller MCU detects whether the connection rate of the RJ45 interface (6) changes: S2. a) If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface (6) is 10 gigabits, the SFP+ interface module (3) should be matched to a 10-gigabit form module; If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface (6) is gigabit, the SFP+ interface module (3) should be matched to a gigabit form module; when the real-time form of the SFP+ interface module (3) does not match the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface (6), steps b or c are executed to switch the module form; b) If the current connection rate of the RJ45 interface (6) is 1000Base-Tx gigabit: Simulate the hot unplugging of the SFP+ interface module (3), inform the SFP interface master device (1) that it has been unplugged, wait for 2 seconds, and then the microcontroller MCU reconfigures the content of area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table to make the SFP+ interface module (3) switch to a gigabit form module, and simulate the hot insertion of the SFP, inform the SFP interface master device (1) that it has been inserted; after execution, re-enter step a and wait for the next rate change; c). If the current RJ45 interface (6) connection rate is 10 Gigabit 10GBase-T: When the analog SFP+ interface module (3) is hot-plugged out, inform the SFP interface master device (1) that it has been unplugged. After waiting for 2 seconds, the microcontroller MCU reconfigures the content in area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table, causing the SFP+ interface module (3) to switch to a 10 Gigabit form module. Then, the analog SFP+ interface module (3) is hot-plugged in, and the SFP interface master device (1) is informed that it has been inserted. After the execution is complete, re-enter step a and wait for the next rate change.

5. The automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate according to claim 4, wherein The SFP+ interface module (3) needs to store the variable representing the module form switching information for at least 10 s, and can correctly switch the form after the SFP interface master device (1) powers the SFP+ interface module (3) again.

6. The automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate according to claim 5, characterized in that, There are two methods for storing the variable representing the module form; One of the methods is that a low-power MCU and a large-capacity ceramic chip capacitor energy storage can achieve time storage within 10 seconds; The other method is to store through non-volatile RAM.

7. The automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate according to claim 1, characterized in that Pin 6 of the SFP interface of the SFP+ interface module (3) is the MODULE_READY- signal; The microcontroller MCU simulates the hot-plugging action by controlling the high and low levels of the MODULE_READY- signal to inform the SFP interface master device (1) of the unplugged and inserted state information of the SFP+ interface module (3).

8. The automatic switching method capable of adaptively switching between gigabit network rate and ten-gigabit network rate according to claim 1, wherein, Pins 4 and 5 of the SFP interface of the SFP+ interface module (3) are the IIC signal buses. The SFP interface master device (1) reads the content in area A0 of the SFF-8472 protocol specification table of the SFP+ interface module (3) through the IIC signal buses, thereby switching the interface mode of the SFP+ interface module (3) inside the SFP interface master device (1).

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