Switching system comprising distributed elements allowing attachment to line adapters, and having multicasting capabilities
US6125114A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 17, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 26, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 17, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2012/5672
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A switching system comprising a switching structure for routing cells from a set of M input ports towards a set of M output ports. The system includes a set of distributed individual Switch Core Access layer elements which communicate with one input and output port of the switching structure by means of a set of serial communication links. Each SCAL element provides attachment to at least one Protocol Adapter and comprises a set of circuits. The receive part of each circuit includes means for introducing at least one extra byte to every cell. The extra byte is reserved for carrying a routing header for controlling the switching structure in a first step, and then for use by the PINT circuit when the cell will be received by the transmit part in a second step. The transmit part of each PINT circuit comprises a control module that receives all the cells generated at the corresponding output port and controls whether to discard the cell based on the value of the extra byte.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.