Virtual-chassis switch network topology
US6567403B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 30, 1998 |
| Grant date | May 20, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 30, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/557
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A “virtual-chassis” topology network includes three or more “front-plane” switches and two or more “back-plane switches”. Front-plane switches can be added to increase the number of ports available for connecting network segments; port count can be exchanged for bandwidth by adding more back-plane switches. The virtual-chassis topology relies on an asymmetrical trunk mode in which each front-plane switch is operating in trunk mode, while the back-plane switches are not. The number of ports per trunk equals the number of back-plane switches so that each front-plane switch is coupled to every back-plane switch (and vice versa). Each back-plane switch is only coupled to front-plane switches, while the untrunked ports of front-plane switches are available for links to network segments. In this topology, every node device (belonging to a segment connected to a front-plane port) is separated by at most three switches from any other node device (also belonging to a segment connected to a front-plane port). The topology is fault-tolerant in that, if any link between the front plane and the back plane is broken, or if an entire back-plane switch fails, th…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.