The present invention is directed to data communication. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides switching mechanism for choosing between redundant communication links. Data received from a first set of communication links are processed to have alignment markers removed, and first figure of merit value is determined based on the data without alignment markers. Similarly, a second figure of merit value is determined for the data received from the second set of communication links. A switch selects between the first set of communication links and the second set of communication links based on their respective figure of merit values. Alignment markers are inserted into the data transmitted through the selected set of data links. There are other embodiments as well.

Embodiments provide a chip and a related device. In those embodiments, the chip includes a ring network. The ring network includes a first node and a second a node. The first node determines whether a first injection buffer value is greater than a first threshold and whether a first injection bandwidth is less than a first expected bandwidth. When the first injection buffer value is greater than the first threshold and the first injection bandwidth is less than the first expected bandwidth, the first node sends a first request to the second node, where the first request is used to instruct at least one node in the ring network, other than the first node, to reduce a transmission quantity of first data packets. According to the embodiments of this application, a network bandwidth can be properly allocated according to an actual operating status of a system.

Reconfigurable computing clusters, compute nodes within reconfigurable computing clusters, and methods of operating a reconfigurable computing cluster are disclosed. A reconfigurable computing cluster includes an optical circuit switch, and a plurality of computing assets, each of the plurality of computing assets connected to the optical circuit switch by two or more bidirectional fiber optic communications paths.

The present invention is directed to data communication. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides switching mechanism for choosing between redundant communication links. Data received from a first set of communication links are processed to have alignment markers removed, and first figure of merit value is determined based on the data without alignment markers. Similarly, a second figure of merit value is determined for the data received from the second set of communication links. A switch selects between the first set of communication links and the second set of communication links based on their respective figure of merit values. Alignment markers are inserted into the data transmitted through the selected set of data links. There are other embodiments as well.

The present invention is directed to data communication. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides switching mechanism for choosing between redundant communication links. Data received from a first set of communication links are processed to have alignment markers removed, and first figure of merit value is determined based on the data without alignment markers. Similarly, a second figure of merit value is determined for the data received from the second set of communication links. A switch selects between the first set of communication links and the second set of communication links based on their respective figure of merit values. Alignment markers are inserted into the data transmitted through the selected set of data links. There are other embodiments as well.

Reconfigurable computing clusters, compute nodes within reconfigurable computing clusters, and methods of operating a reconfigurable computing cluster are disclosed. A reconfigurable computing cluster includes an optical circuit switch, and a plurality of computing assets, each of the plurality of computing assets connected to the optical circuit switch by two or more bidirectional fiber optic communications paths.

A communication device includes a master station, a ring-type transmission line whose start point and end point are connected to the master station, and a plurality of slave stations connected to the ring-type transmission line in parallel. The master station transmits a signal and feeds electric power from both of the start point and the end point of the ring-type transmission line. Each of the slave stations includes an impedance variable element connected to the ring-type transmission line in parallel, and values are set to the impedance variable elements in accordance with the connection positions of the slave stations.

A communication device includes a master station, a ring-type transmission line whose start point and end point are connected to the master station, and a plurality of slave stations connected to the ring-type transmission line in parallel. The master station transmits a signal and feeds electric power from both of the start point and the end point of the ring-type transmission line. Each of the slave stations includes an impedance variable element connected to the ring-type transmission line in parallel, and values are set to the impedance variable elements in accordance with the connection positions of the slave stations.

The present invention is directed to data communication. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides switching mechanism for choosing between redundant communication links. Data received from a first set of communication links are processed to have alignment markers removed, and first figure of merit value is determined based on the data without alignment markers. Similarly, a second figure of merit value is determined for the data received from the second set of communication links. A switch selects between the first set of communication links and the second set of communication links based on their respective figure of merit values. Alignment markers are inserted into the data transmitted through the selected set of data links. There are other embodiments as well.

The present invention is directed to data communication. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides switching mechanism for choosing between redundant communication links. Data received from a first set of communication links are processed to have alignment markers removed, and first figure of merit value is determined based on the data without alignment markers. Similarly, a second figure of merit value is determined for the data received from the second set of communication links. A switch selects between the first set of communication links and the second set of communication links based on their respective figure of merit values. Alignment markers are inserted into the data transmitted through the selected set of data links. There are other embodiments as well.