Asynchronous packet switching with common time reference
US6272132A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 22, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 7, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 22, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L69/28
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The invention describes a method for transmitting and forwarding packets over a packet switching network. The switches of the network maintain a common time reference, which is obtained either from an external source (such as GPS--Global Positioning System) or is generated and distributed internally. The time intervals are arranged in simple periodicity and complex periodicity (like seconds and minutes of a clock). A packet that arrives to an input port of a switch, is switched to an output port based on specific routing information in the packet header (e.g., IPv4 destination address in the Internet, VCI/VPI labels in ATM). Each switch along a route from a source to a destination forwards packets in periodic time intervals that are predefined using the common time reference. The time interval duration can be longer than the time duration required for transmitting a packet, in which case the exact position of a packet in the time interval is not predetermined.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.