Apparatus and methods providing redundant routing in a switched network device
US6628649B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 29, 1999 |
| Grant date | Sep 30, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 29, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/586
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The invention provides unique architectures and techniques for routing redundancy in a data switch configured to use label switching. Multiple label switch controllers (LSCs) each operate concurrently but independently of each other to provide routes through a data switching mechanism. Preferred embodiments provide a plurality of LSCs offering MPLS capabilities coupled to a single switch, such as an ATM switch. The similarly configured LSCs each can concurrently support a route for data (e.g., labeled ATM cells) within the data switching mechanism in parallel, thereby providing the ability to support redundant and multiple parallel data networks. The configuration is called a label switch router (LSR). A fully-meshed embodiment allows selected routes to share bandwidth on ports, while a fully parallel embodiment provides separate ports for selected routes. Since each LSC provides parallel routes with the other LSCs in an LSR, a communications between an LSR and a label edge router (LER) can use multipath routing to concurrently distribute data equally across the parallel routes for each destination. Alternatively, unipath routing techniques can select one route for use for each des…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.