Network element for switching time division multiplex signals
US8374177B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 3, 2009 |
| Grant date | Feb 12, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 22, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/25
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In order to provide a network element for switching time-division multiplex signals in a transport network, which allows higher capacity at moderate equipment costs, the network element has a number of input ports (I; IO1-IO8), a number of output ports (O; IO1-IO8) and a switch fabric ( ) SF; 58) interconnecting the input and output ports (IO1-IO8). The switching fabric ( ) SF; 58) is a cell based switch comprising one or more switch modules ( ) SE1-SEn) which are adapted to switch fixed-length cells on the basis of addresses contained in cell headers of the cells. The input ports (I) contain a segmentation device (11) for segmenting an input time-division multiplex signal into fixed-length cells and assigning address information to each cell. The output ports (O) contain a reassembly device (14) for reassembling cells received from said switch fabric (SF; 58) into an output time-division multiplex signal. The address information contains a fabric address (H1, H2) and a TDM address (P0, P1). The switch fabric switches the cells in accordance with the fabric address (H1, H2) to a corresponding output port (O) and the reassembly device (14) reassembles the cells in accordance with th…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.