Arbitration mechanism for a multicast logic engine of a switching fabric circuit
US5898687A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 24, 1996 |
| Grant date | Apr 27, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 24, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2012/5681
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A multicast engine of a shared-memory switching fabric circuit increases the replication rate of data elements destined for multicast connections within a network switch by manipulating address information relating to those elements. The multicast engine cooperates with other components of the switching fabric circuit to minimize the total buffer requirements of the switch by storing only a single copy of each multicast data element in a location of shared memory. Specifically, the engine has a pipelined architecture that provides a multicasting capability for the switching fabric circuit by replicating only an address pointer to that memory location for each destination of the multicast connection.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.