Apparatus and method for switching packets using tree memory
US5509006A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 18, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 16, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 18, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2012/5625
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A device for switching packets at high speed. For each packet, the A device matches packet data with protocols, to determine how to switch the packet. Matching of data with protocols is highly parallel; the device simultaneously retrieves a data byte, compares a data byte with a protocol byte, tests a comparison result, and executes a processor instruction. A switching engine having a comparator and a decision tree memory. The comparator includes three outputs for indicating a comparison result (less-than, equal-to, or greater-than). The tree memory includes three corresponding banks of addressable memory. Each memory location comprises an entry for a next location, an entry for a next protocol byte, and an entry for a processor instruction. A set of protocol tests are assembled into the tree memory, and a set of routing tables are dynamically generated into the tree memory.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.