Methods and apparatus for supporting active link status during LAN interface reset and reconfigurations. Under one aspect, during normal operations traffic is transmitted over an Ethernet link coupling a first link partner to a second link partner. In response to a network interface re-configuration event, transmission of traffic over the Ethernet link is paused while keeping the Physical layer (PHY) of the Ethernet link active. The configuration of the first link partner is updated while the transmission of traffic is paused and the PHY of the Ethernet link is active. Upon completion of the configuration update, the link partners resume transmission of traffic over the Ethernet link. Additional schemes are provided that support re-configuration of network interfaces that support link and per priority flow control. According to another aspect, separate power domains are used for the PHY and the MAC circuitry, enabling the MAC circuitry to be reset via a power cycle while maintaining power to the PHY circuitry.

One example method includes creating a manifest that specifies one or more requirements concerning execution of an application that resides at an end device in an N-tier configuration, identifying a workload that is associated with the application and executable at one or more edge stations of the N-tier configuration, gathering and evaluating network telemetry, orchestrating the workload based on the network telemetry and the manifest, scheduling performance of the workload at the one or more edge stations, and performing the workload at the one or more edge stations in accordance with the scheduling.

A method for fast link recovery for an Ethernet link is disclosed. The method includes detecting a drop in link quality and performing a first fast retrain sequence, including determining and exchanging THP coefficients based on the drop in link quality. If the performed fast retrain fails to recover the link, a data rate associated with the link is reduced, and a second fast retrain sequence performed.

A method for self-monitored universal scaling of software network functions involves receiving, at a switch of a network, one or more batches of data units. The network further includes one or more network function (NF) instances of an NF service, and a scaling controller. The switch transmits first data units to an NF instance of the NF service during a first time period. A first distribution associated with the NF instance is updated using the first transmitted data units. Upon determining that the updated distribution has changed such that a first measure of the first distribution is outside of a first confidence interval threshold, the first distribution is reinitialized. The switch transmits second data units to the NF instance during a second time period. The reinitialized first distribution is updated using the second transmitted data units to produce a second distribution associated with the NF instance.

A video packet stream is transmitted from a transmitting device to a receiving device over a network, by transmitting an audio packet stream to the receiving device, determining a measure of network bandwidth in dependence on one or more metrics associated with receiving the audio packet stream at the receiving device, and enabling a video packet stream in dependence on the determined measure.

Technology is disclosed herein for monitoring a network path. In an implementation, a device on a network path obtains a burst capacity of the network path, determines a round trip time associated with a burst of traffic sent over the network path, and determines a predicted throughput of the network path based at least in part on the burst capacity of the network path and the rount trip time of the burst of traffic.

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, obtaining predicted available bandwidths for an end user device, monitoring buffer occupancy of a buffer of the end user device, determining bit rates for portions of media content according to the predicted available bandwidths and according to the buffer occupancy, and adjusting bit rates for portions of media content according to the predicted available bandwidths and according to the buffer occupancy during streaming of the media content to the end user device over a wireless network. Other embodiments are disclosed.

An example method is provided in one example embodiment and may include receiving traffic associated with at least one of a mobile network and a Gi-Local Area Network (Gi-LAN), wherein the traffic comprises one or more packets; determining a classification of the traffic to a service chain, wherein the service chain comprises one or more service functions associated at least one of one or more mobile network services and one or more Gi-LAN services; routing the traffic through the service chain; and routing the traffic to a network using one of a plurality of egress interfaces, wherein each egress interface of the plurality of egress interfaces is associated with at least one of the one or more mobile network services and the one or more Gi-LAN services.

Nodes within a network are configured to adapt to changing path states, due to congestion, node failures, and/or other factors. A node may selectively convey path information and/or other state information to another node by annotating the information into packets it receives from the other node. A node may selectively reflect these annotated packets back to the other node, or other nodes that subsequently receive these annotated packets may reflect them. A weighted cost multipathing selection technique is improved by dynamically adjusting weights of paths in response to feedback indicating the current state of the network topology, such as collected through these reflected packets. In an embodiment, certain packets that would have been dropped may instead be transformed into “special visibility” packets that may be stored and/or sent for analysis. In an embodiment, insight into the performance of a network device is enhanced through the use of programmable visibility engines.

A method for determining a packet dequeue rate includes allocating a plurality of consecutive blocks in a first memory to a first packet, storing the first packet and a first length in the plurality of blocks, where the first length is of a first packet queue and is obtained when the first packet is enqueued into the first packet queue, and determining, based on a first span and the first length stored, a first rate at which a packet in the first packet queue is dequeued, where the first span is equal to a difference between a second time and a first time, the first time is when the first packet is enqueued into the first packet queue, and the second time is when the first packet is dequeued from the first packet queue.