Abstract: A synchronization state for a local clock generating circuit of a first of a number of components of a distributed system is maintained according to a number of local clock cycles recorded between successive occurrences of a global synchronization signal provided to the components within the distributed system. The local clock generating circuit may enters the synchronization state only after observing a predetermined number of occurrences of successive local clock cycles between instances of the global synchronization signal. The local clock generating circuit continues to provide local control signals for the first of the components at time instants corresponding to the number of local clock cycles even after an instance of the global synchronization signal is observed at a time instant corresponding to one local clock cycle more or less than the number of local clock cycles.

Abstract: An apparatus is described comprising an ingress port and a plurality of switch planes where each of the switch planes has a dedicated scheduler and each of the switch planes are communicatively coupled to the ingress port. The switch planes may further have at least one input control port and at least one output control port where each of the input control ports are coupled to each of the output control ports in a crossbar arrangement. The communicative coupling may further comprise one of the input control ports coupled to the ingress port. Furthermore, the ingress port may have at least one unicast queue which is dedicated to a specific egress port. The ingress port may also have a multicast queue.

Abstract: A method of managing a network switch. The method having the first step of detecting a status of a set of physical ports on an interface card in the network switch. Then, determining if the status is in a first state that indicates that all physical ports in the interface card are inaccessible. If the status is in the first state, then accepting all traffic for the set of physical ports. Also disclosed is an apparatus for performing the method.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for reducing congestion in a network switching node. A congestion mask that indicates which of a plurality of destination ports in a network switching node are congested is generated and combined with a destination port field included in a packet in a multicast queue of the switching node to mask destination port designations in the destination port field that are indicated by the congestion mask to be congested if a drop eligibility field within the packet indicates that destination port designations are permitted to be masked. The packet is dequeued from the multicast queue to be forwarded to destination ports in the network switching node indicated by destination port designations in the destination port field not masked by the combination of the congestion mask with the destination port field.

Abstract: A communication interface is described to align at a destination data transmitted through different channels before that data is read out. The communication interface includes a receiver circuit that has a plurality of buffers. Each buffer is coupled to a corresponding channel to receive data therethrough. The communication interface also includes a control circuit, coupled to the plurality of buffers, to enable reading of data from the plurality of buffers when each of the plurality of buffers has received at least one unit of data.