Early availability of forwarding control information
US6320859A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 6, 1998 |
| Grant date | Nov 20, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 6, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/3072
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for increasing the throughput and forwarding rate of a switch fabric are provided. According to one aspect of the present invention, a packet forwarding device includes a plurality of port interface devices (PIDs), memory access circuitry, and a management device. The PIDs are configured to fragment packets into cells. A portion of a cell serves as forwarding information. The memory access circuitry receives cell data from the PIDs to receive cell data. The memory access circuitry includes a data interface that outputs cell data and an independent control interface that outputs forwarding information. A memory is coupled to the data interface of the memory access circuitry to temporarily store the cell data received from the memory access circuitry. A management device is coupled to the independent control interface of the memory access circuitry to receive the forwarding information. The management device employs the forwarding information to organize cells into one or more groups. According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for forwarding data through a network device. A first port interface receives a packet. The first port i…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.