Three-stage switch fabric with buffered crossbar devices
US7023841B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 14, 2001 |
| Grant date | Apr 4, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 20, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2012/5681
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A switch fabric for routing data has a switching stage configured between an input stage and an output stage. The input stage forwards the received data to the switching stage, which routes the data to the output stage, which transmits the data towards destinations. Each input device of the input stage transmits bids to the crossbar devices of the switching stage to request connections through the switching stage for routing the data to the output devices of the output stage. In one aspect, each crossbar device has (1) a bid arbitrator that determines whether to accept or reject each received bid, wherein, in response to a collision between multiple bids, the bid arbitrator accepts two or more of the colliding bids in a single time slot; and (2) memory for storing one or more accepted cells for the same output device, wherein the crossbar device can transmit grant signals for two or more accepted bids for the same output device in a single time slot. In another aspect, the bid arbitrator is configured to re-consider whether to accept a stored bid that was not accepted in a previous time slot.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.