Abstract: A network switch includes an input layer to receive a data stream with a set of cells. Each cell includes data and a header to designate a destination device. The input layer includes a set of input layer circuits. A selected input layer circuit of the set of input layer circuits receives the data stream. The selected input layer circuit includes a set of queues corresponding to a set of destination devices. The selected input layer circuit is configured to assign a selected cell from the data stream to a selected queue of the set of queues. The selected queue corresponds to a selected destination device specified by the header of the selected cell. An intermediate layer includes a set of intermediate layer circuits, each intermediate layer circuit has a set of buffers corresponding to the set of destination devices.

Abstract: A network system capable of communicating with a first end user device over a wireless access network, and a method performed by the network system. The method comprises receiving an instruction from the first end user device, the instruction being based on a user input obtained through a user interface of the first end user device, the user input requesting a change to a forwarding service, the forwarding service enabling the first end user device to forward traffic between the wireless access network and one or more other end user devices according to a forwarding policy; determining to change a setting associated with the forwarding policy based on the instruction; and initiating provisioning of one or more elements to change the setting associated with the forwarding policy.

Abstract: A system for embedding metadata in data packets has logic that is configured to insert metadata into a data packet after the payload data and padding, if any. The logic further adjusts the packet's overhead, such as a frame check sequence, to account for the added length of the packet. The packet remains compliant with applicable protocols, such as Ethernet, and can be successfully communicated in accordance with such protocols while carrying the metadata. In this regard, the insertion of the metadata is transparent to protocol stacks such that the metadata data does not cause an error or the protocol stacks to render the packet invalid. In particular, the protocol stacks view the inserted metadata as part of the packet's pad field, and the inserted metadata should not cause any errors in the operation of the protocol stacks or prevent the protocol stacks from processing the packet.

Abstract: A method includes installing an interface card having a first module of a switch fabric and a second module of the switch fabric, and an interface card having a third module of the switch fabric in a first chassis, within a first time period. The switch fabric is in a first configuration and is operable as a three-stage switch fabric after the first time period and before a second time period. The interface card having the third module is removed from the first chassis within the second time period. An interface card having a fourth module of the switch fabric and a fifth module of the switch fabric is installed in the first chassis within the second time period. The switch fabric is in a transitional configuration and is operable as a three-stage switch fabric after the second time period but before the third time period. The interface card having the third module is installed in a second chassis and the first chassis is operatively coupled with the second chassis within the third time period.

Abstract: A method for communication, in a network element that includes multiple ports, includes buffering data packets entering the network element via the ports in input buffers that are respectively associated with the ports. Storage of the data packets is shared among the input buffers by evaluating a condition related to the ports, and, when the condition is met, moving at least one data packet from a first input buffer of a first port to a second input buffer of a second port, different from the first port. Respective output ports, via which the buffered data packets are to exit the network element, are selected from among the ports. The buffered data packets are forwarded to the selected output ports.

Abstract: A multi-chassis network device includes a plurality of nodes that operate as a single device within the network and a switch fabric that forwards data plane packets between the plurality of nodes. The switch fabric includes a set of multiplexed optical interconnects coupling the nodes. For example, a multi-chassis router includes a plurality of routing nodes that operate as a single router within a network and a switch fabric that forwards packets between the plurality of routing nodes. The switch fabric includes at least one multiplexed optical interconnect coupling the routing nodes. The nodes of the multi-chassis router may direct portions of the optical signal over the multiplexed optical interconnect to different each other using wave-division multiplexing.

Abstract: A balanced, bufferless switch scalable to high capacities and requiring less processing effort with less internal fabric expansion in comparison with prior-art switches. The balanced, bufferless switch employs a pre-switching or post-switching balanced-connector.

Abstract: A network device includes a hybrid switch fabric configured for switching packets and circuits that includes a packet switching portion that distributes packets across a plurality of packet ports of fabric chips within the hybrid switch fabric and operates in accordance with packet switching behavior requirements, and a circuit switching portion for switching circuits, wherein the circuit switching portion of the hybrid switch fabric directly connects a single input of the hybrid switch fabric to a single output of the hybrid switch fabric via a pre-determined path through the fabric chips and operates in accordance with circuit switching behavior requirements. The packet switching portion and the circuit switching portion include one or more fabric chips, wherein the fabric chips each include a plurality of ports each dynamically configurable as one of a packet port for receiving and outputting packet-switched data and a circuit port for receiving and outputting circuit-switched data.

Abstract: Examples are disclosed for forwarding cells of partitioned data through a three-stage memory-memory-memory (MMM) input-queued Clos-network (IQC) packet switch. In some examples, each module of the three-stage MMM IQC packet switch includes a virtual queue and a manager that are configured in cooperation with one another to forward a cell from among cells of partitioned data through at least a portion of the switch. The cells of partitioned data may have been partitioned and stored at an input port for the switch and have a destination of an output port for the switch.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method is described for determining cost in a non-blocking routing network that provides routing functionality using a single level of a plurality of multiplexers in each row of the routing network. The method includes assigning a respective numerical value, represented by bits, to each row of the routing network. A number of bits that differ between the respective numerical values of each pair of rows of the routing network indicates a number of row traversals necessary to traverse from a first row of the pair to a second row of the pair. A signal routing cost is computed from the number of bits that differ between the respective numerical values of the first row and the second row of the routing network. The calculated signal routing cost is provided to a placement module.

Abstract: Provided is a software entity adapted to operate in a first network on behalf of a relocatable device to negotiate services for the relocatable device from the network, and to be transportable or replicable to operate in a second network to negotiate services for the relocatable device from the second network.

Abstract: A method of redirecting a request (R_act) sent by a terminal equipment (STB) for control of a data stream (FL0) broadcast by a source (HE) in a telecommunications network. The method comprises: on reception of a request to control a data stream sent by a terminal equipment (STB), a step of obtaining info cation representing a current data stream control capacity for a plurality (11) of broadcast servers; a step of selecting, with the aid of the above information, a server (NTSSk0) from said plurality of servers able to control said data stream (FL0) broadcast by the source, a step of sending a request to capture this data stream to the selected server if it is not already capturing the data stream for at least one other terminal equipment; and a step of redirecting the control request to the selected server.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates flow control of multi-path-switched data frames. During operation the system transmits from an ingress edge device data frames destined to an egress edge device across different switched paths based on queue status of a core switching device and queue status of the egress edge device. The egress edge device is separate from the core switching device.

Abstract: A system for multi-chassis interconnection and a method for chassis connection are disclosed. The system includes at least three chassis; each chassis includes a first switch fabric unit (SFU) and a second SFU; the first SFU in the first chassis is connected to the first SFU in other chassis; and the second SFU in the second chassis is connected to the second SFU in other chassis. In the embodiments of the present invention, different SFUs in the chassis of the multi-chassis interconnection system are connected to different main chassis, thus overcoming the technical defect in the prior art that other chassis in the multi-chassis interconnection system are unable to exchange data when the main chassis is faulty. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present invention, other chassis in the multi-chassis interconnection system can still exchange data normally when the main chassis is faulty.

Abstract: Source circuits (10) produce messages that may each be processed by any one of a plurality of processing circuits (14). A network of distributor circuits is provided between the source circuits and the processing circuits (14). Local decisions by the distributor circuits in the network decide for each message to which one of the processing circuits the message will be routed. Messages are supplied to at least two parallel distributor circuits. These distributor circuits (12a) select from further distributor circuits (12b) in the network on the basis of current availability of individual ones of the further distributor circuits (12b). The respective messages are in turn forwarded from the selected further distributor circuits (12b) to data processing circuits (14) along routes selected by the selected further distributor circuits (12b) on the basis of current availability of the data processing circuits (14) and/or subsequent distributor circuits (12c) in the network.

Abstract: A one-dimensional circulating switch may be defined by connections between several switch modules and one or more temporal cyclic rotators. Where a switch module that is part of a first one-dimensional circulating switch is also connected one or more temporal cyclic rotators that define a second one-dimensional circulating switch, a two-dimensional circulating switch is formed. A two-dimensional circulating switch is flexible and may scale to capacities ranging from a few gigabits per second to multiple Petabits per second.

Abstract: A switching network includes an upper tier and a lower tier including a plurality of lower tier entities. A master switch in the upper tier, which has a plurality of ports each coupled to a respective lower tier entity, implements on each of the ports a plurality of virtual ports each corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of remote physical interfaces (RPIs) at the lower tier entity coupled to that port. Data traffic communicated between the master switch and RPIs is queued within virtual ports that correspond to the RPIs on lower tier entities with which the data traffic is communicated. The master switch enforces priority-based flow control (PFC) on data traffic of a given virtual port by transmitting, to a lower tier entity on which a corresponding RPI resides, a PFC data frame specifying priorities for at least two different classes of data traffic communicated by the particular RPI.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a multistage interconnection network (MIN) has two or more configurable stages, each stage having a plurality of switches. The network has one or more unused input terminals, each mapped using fixed switch connections to an unused output terminal. The network also has a set of used input terminals that are selectively mapped to a set of used output terminals based on values of control signals supplied to the stages. Each stage receives a different control signal, and each control signal is generated by cyclically shifting a control seed by a corresponding cyclic-shift value. Fixing the mappings of the unused terminals ensures that the used input terminals are not mapped to any unused output terminals. By storing only the control seed, memory requirements are reduced over networks that explicitly store individual control signals for all of the stages.

Abstract: A switching network includes an upper tier and a lower tier including a plurality of lower tier entities. A master switch in the upper tier, which has a plurality of ports each coupled to a respective lower tier entity, implements on each of the ports a plurality of virtual ports each corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of remote physical interfaces (RPIs) at the lower tier entity coupled to that port. Data traffic communicated between the master switch and RPIs is queued within virtual ports that correspond to the RPIs on lower tier entities with which the data traffic is communicated. The master switch enforces priority-based flow control (PFC) on data traffic of a given virtual port by transmitting, to a lower tier entity on which a corresponding RPI resides, a PFC data frame specifying priorities for at least two different classes of data traffic communicated by the particular RPI.

Abstract: A network of switches includes N input accesses and M output accesses, with each of the switches including four ports and with the network input and output accesses being connection switch ports. The network includes at least one stage of switches, with each stage including: a pair of switch lines whose ports are not used as network input or output accesses, referred to as “interconnection switches”, a line being a set of interconnection switches connected to one another; and at least two transverse arms linking interconnection switches of different lines, a transverse arm consisting of elements that are separate from those of the other transverse arms, a transverse arm including at least two links and a switch, referred to as “transverse switch” with the connection switches being transverse switches. At least two transverse switches from different transverse arms of each stage are connection switches of the network.

Abstract: A scalable Ethernet switch includes modules which can be interconnected to provide a single, virtual switch. The modules may be of uniform physical size and shape relative to a standard telecommunications rack. When greater capacity is required, an additional module is mounted in a rack and interconnected with the other modules, e.g., in a bi-directional ring. Enhanced port density is provided by interconnecting the modules with 12 GbE links which operate on standard 10 GbE wiring and connectors. Consequently, throughput between modules in increased relative to standard 10 GbE links without increasing form factor. Further, transmission power control can be implemented such that modules of the virtual switch may be physically adjacent or separated by distances of several meters.

Abstract: A scalable router-switch comprises a plurality of switch units each having consolidation means for data disassembling and reassembling. The switch units are arranged into switch modules and the switch units of each switch module are interconnected through a dual rotator to form a contention-free temporal mesh.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes accessing a first utilization value, accessing a second utilization value, defining a third utilization value, and sending to a first switching portion of a distributed network switch a deactivate signal in response to the third utilization value. The first utilization value is associated with the first switching portion of the distributed network switch. The second utilization value is associated with a second switching portion of the distributed network switch. The third utilization value is associated with the second switching portion of the distributed network switch and is based on the first utilization parameter and the second utilization parameter. The first switching portion of the distributed network switch ceases communication within the distributed network switch in response to the deactivate signal.

Abstract: A wireless USB device that performs a communication conforming to a wireless USB standard with a plurality of wireless USB hosts includes a reception-time-information receiving unit that receives reception time information indicating a data reception time specified by each of the wireless USB hosts, a configuration determining unit that determines, when the reception-time-information receiving unit receives the reception time information from a wireless USB host, whether a configuration is set for the wireless USB host, and a configuration unit that sets, when the configuration determining unit determines that the configuration is not set for the wireless USB host that transmitted the reception time information, the configuration for the wireless USB host that transmitted the reception time information.

Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus can include a policy vector module configured to retrieve a compressed policy vector based on a portion of a data packet received at a multi-stage switch. The apparatus can also include a decompression module configured to receive the compressed policy vector and configured to define a decompressed policy vector based on the compressed policy vector. The decompressed policy vector can define a combination of bit values associated with a policy.

Abstract: The present invention discloses an apparatus to implement a m=n Non-Blocking Minimal Spanning Switch, where n=the total number of data input signals and m=the total number of data output signals and m=the number of crossbar connections in each switch. Data is input to the switch as a plurality of frames, whereby each crossbar connection contains a framer which detects framing patterns in the data. Skewed data is re-aligned and buffered so that the data output by each crossbar connection is equal and identical, thus any crossbar connection may be used to ensure a connection, eliminating the possibility of data interrupts.

Abstract: In a first embodiment of the present invention, a non-blocking switch fabric is provided comprising: a first set of intra-domain switches; a second set of intra-domain switches; a set of inter-domain switches located centrally between the first set of intra-domain switches and the second set of intra-domain switches, wherein each of the ports of each of the inter-domain switches is connected to an intra-domain switch from the first or second set of intra-domain switches.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a data center fabric network system includes a controller, a plurality of switches connected to the controller via a plurality of communication links, a source device connected to at least a first switch of the plurality of switches, a destination device connected to at least a second switch of the plurality of switches, and wherein the controller is adapted for: creating a topology of the data center fabric network system, determining paths between the plurality of switches, calculating one or more disjoint multi-paths from the source device to the destination device based on the topology, and writing the one or more disjoint multi-paths into a forwarding table of at least one of: the source device, the first switch, and a nearest shared switch to the source device.

Abstract: A system includes one or more active/working circuit groups to transfer information through a protection domain, the protection domain defined by a plurality of network devices and a plurality of links connecting the network devices between a start point and an end point; and a protection circuit group through the protection domain, the protection circuit group being disjoint from the one or more active/working circuit groups to provide shared protection for the one or more active/working circuit groups, where the protection circuit group is comprised of an individual protection circuit and where a capacity of the protection circuit group is dynamically adjusted based on a capacity of the one or more active/working circuit groups.

Abstract: The present invention discloses an apparatus to implement a m=n Non-Blocking Minimal Spanning Switch, where n=the total number of data input signals and m=the total number of data output signals and m=the number of crossbar connections in each switch. Data is input to the switch as a plurality of frames, whereby each crossbar connection contains a framer which detects framing patterns in the data. Skewed data is re-aligned and buffered so that the data output by each crossbar connection is equal and identical, thus any crossbar connection may be used to ensure a connection, eliminating the possibility of data interrupts.

Abstract: A network, including: a first tile having a processor, a top brick connected to the processor, a first bottom brick, and a first intermediate brick; a second tile having a second intermediate brick and a second bottom brick; multiple connections connecting the top brick with the second intermediate brick and the first intermediate brick with the second bottom brick using a passthrough on an intermediate tile between the first and second tiles, where the first, intermediate, and second tiles are positioned in a row; and a third tile having a plurality of caches connected to a third bottom brick, where the second and third tiles are positioned in a column, and the first bottom brick, second bottom brick, and third bottom brick belong to a bottom layer of the network, and where the first and second intermediate bricks belong to an intermediate layer of the network.

Abstract: A method is provided for determining a transmission rate of a control response frame for acknowledging data receipt in a wireless local area network. The method includes obtaining transmission parameters of a transmitting station from a data transmission frame received from the transmitting station, searching a receiving station for transmission parameters which correspond to the transmission parameters of the transmitting station, determining the transmission rate of the control response frame according to transmission parameters of the receiving station if the transmission parameters corresponding to the transmission parameters of the transmitting station are found in the receiving station, and determining a maximum rate among a set of basic transmission rates to be the transmission rate of the control response frame if the transmission parameters corresponding to the transmission parameters of the transmitting station are not found in the receiving station.

Abstract: A method and system for performing peer-to-peer wireless communication between stations (STAs) within a basic service set (BSS) while maintaining connectivity with an access point (AP) in the BSS are disclosed. A source STA, an AP and a destination STA negotiate a direct link setup (DLS) channel for performing peer-to-peer communication between the source STA and the destination STA. The DLS channel may be different from a BSS channel used for communication between the AP and each of the STAs. The source STA and the destination STA then perform peer-to-peer communication on the negotiated DLS channel.

Abstract: A multi-chassis network device includes a plurality of nodes that operate as a single device within the network and a switch fabric that forwards data plane packets between the plurality of nodes. The switch fabric includes a set of multiplexed optical interconnects coupling the nodes. For example, a multi-chassis router includes a plurality of routing nodes that operate as a single router within a network and a switch fabric that forwards packets between the plurality of routing nodes. The switch fabric includes at least one multiplexed optical interconnect coupling the routing nodes. The nodes of the multi-chassis router may direct portions of the optical signal over the multiplexed optical interconnect to different each other using wave-division multiplexing.

Abstract: A network apparatus includes: a slot table storing a record including an identifier of a time slot which is assigned to packet transmission from a specific transmission source to a specific transmission destination, and identifiers of an input interface and output interface which are used for the packet transmission; and a unit, upon receiving a first control packet which includes an identifier of the specific time slot and represents a start of the specific time slot, to identify the input interface and output interface corresponding to the specific time slot from the slot table, and to send packets from the identified input interface to the identified output interface during a period until receiving a second control packet which includes the identifier of the specific time slot and represents an end of the specific time slot.

Abstract: Systems and methods are presented relating to a three stage crossbar based switching system and a scheduling method for transmission of data packets and associated request and grant tokens. The first stage and third stage portions of the switching system contain TDM crossbars, which are interconnected by a middle stage set of crossbars. In an embodiment, the system switching module is a m×m crossbar switch comprising m inputs and m outputs. The switch has a size m2×m2 formed from m×m crossbar modules. Scheduling of data packet servicing is on a frame by frame basis relating to selection based on port addresses and port address groups. Further, time slot interchange is utilized to address time slot mismatch.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a system for managing data, and a corresponding computer program and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium, which can be used, in particular, to save, for example, e-mails in a folder structure on a server by using an e-mail push client, which are known, for example, as Blackberry devices. It is a method for managing data, the data are saved as e-mail or messages on a mail server and/or a server of a message signaling system. At least one application with at least one function for data processing is installed on a terminal. In addition, the terminal sends a request for managing data to the mail server and/or the server of a message signaling service by using the data managing function, and the data are transmitted to a file server according to the request from the mail server and/or the server of a message signaling service, where they are saved in a file system, wherein the stored data can be accessed from a file management program.

Abstract: An overlaid switching network is derived by overlaying perpendicularly one multistage interconnection network with a second multistage interconnection network. The new network is formed by placing a switching element corresponding to the position of switching elements in either multistage interconnection network. Each switching element in the overlaid network has the ports defined by the two multistage interconnection networks as does its interconnection networks. A special case occurs when the number of rows and columns of the first multistage interconnection network is the number of columns and rows of the second multistage interconnection network, respectively. The overlaid switching networks also inherit their upgradeability from the multistage interconnection networks from which they are derived, such as in the case of a redundant blocking compensated cyclic group multistage network.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a system includes a chassis having a group of horizontal slots in which a first group of line cards is disposed and a group of vertical slots in which a second group of line cards is disposed. Each port of a line card from the first group of line cards is operatively coupled to a different line card from the second group of line cards when the system is in a first configuration. A first set of ports and a second set of ports of a line card from the first group of line cards are operatively coupled to a first line card and a second line card from the second group of line cards, respectively, when the system is in a second configuration.

Abstract: A generalized multi-link multi-stage network comprising (2×logdN)?1 stages is operated in strictly nonblocking manner for unicast, also in rearrangeably nonblocking manner for arbitrary fan-out multicast when s?2, and in strictly nonblocking manner for arbitrary fan-out multicast when s?3, includes an input stage having N/d switches with each of them having d inlet links and s×d outgoing links connecting to second stage switches, an output stage having N/d switches with each of them having d outlet links and s×d incoming links connecting from switches in the penultimate stage. The network also has (2×logdN)?3 middle stages with each middle stage having N/d switches, and each switch in the middle stage has s×d incoming links connecting from the switches in its immediate preceding stage, and s×d outgoing links connecting to the switches in its immediate succeeding stage. Also each multicast connection is set up by use of at most two outgoing links from the input stage switch.

Abstract: In one embodiment, edge devices can be configured to be coupled to a multi-stage switch fabric and peripheral processing devices. The edge devices and the multi-stage switch fabric can collectively define a single logical entity. A first edge device from the edge devices can be configured to be coupled to a first peripheral processing device from the peripheral processing devices. The second edge device from the edge devices can be configured to be coupled to a second peripheral processing device from the peripheral processing devices. The first edge device can be configured such that virtual resources including a first virtual resource can be defined at the first peripheral processing device. A network management module coupled to the edge devices and configured to provision the virtual resources such that the first virtual resource can be migrated from the first peripheral processing device to the second peripheral processing device.

Abstract: A network device having a distributed, multi-stage forwarding architecture uses a two-stage process for planned orderly offlining of switch fabric components. The process includes a prepare stage in which preparations are made from downstream components to upstream components for offlining and new spray weights are calculated but not applied, and a commit stage in which new spray weights are committed and applied to traffic from upstream components to downstream components.

Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus can include a first edge device that can have a packet processing module. The first edge device can be configured to receive a packet. The packet processing module of the first edge device can be configured to produce cells based on the packet. A second edge device can have a packet processing module configured to reassemble the packet based on the cells. A multi-stage switch fabric can be coupled to the first edge device and the second edge device. The multi-stage switch fabric can define a single logical entity. The multi-stage switch fabric can have switch modules. Each switch module from the switch modules can have a shared memory device. The multi-stage switch fabric can be configured to switch the cells so that the cells are sent to the second edge device.

Abstract: A routing fabric using multiple levels of switching networks along with associated routing matrices to allow a more uniform and shorter interconnection or routing path among logic modules or routing modules compared with those in the conventional designs. The resulting routing fabric can be used in electronic devices, such as switching networks, routers, and programmable logic circuits, etc.

Abstract: Configurations providing a reusable context model for a user interface over SMS for interacting with different levels of a user interface (UI) within an interactive system are described. An SMS server can implement the reusable context model in which an available number from a sequence of numbers (e.g., a block of numbers) is assigned to a first level of the UI. The first level of the UI can include a set of options corresponding to different operations within the interactive system. When an SMS message, which includes a selected option from the set of options from the first level of the UI, is received over the assigned number, the SMS server can determine whether to assign an additional number from the sequence of phone numbers for responding to the received SMS message. The additional assigned number can correspond with a second level of the UI within the interactive system.

Abstract: A system and method for estimating a location of wireless devices transmitting signals on channels in a communications system having a plurality of nodes and a plurality of Location Measurement Units (“LMU”). A first plurality of signals from a first channel may be received by one or more of the plural LMUs and a second plurality of signals from a second channel may be received by one or more of the plural LMUs. The received first and second plural signals may be converted into first and second digital signals and then divided into first and second sets of frequency bins, the first and second sets of bins corresponding to the respective channel. Each of the divided signals may be correlated with one or more reference signals, and the correlated signals stored in a database for estimating a location of one or more wireless devices.

Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a switch core that has a multi-stage switch fabric. The multi-stage switch fabric has a set of ingress ports and a set of egress ports. The switch core can be configured to be coupled to a set of edge devices via the set of ingress ports and the set of egress ports. The switch core can be configured to receive a packet from an ingress port from the set of ingress ports. The switch core can be configured to send a set of cells associated with the packet from the ingress port to an egress port from the set of egress ports without a store-and-forward delay associated with a zero-load latency for the switch core.

Abstract: Example methods and apparatus to distribute network IP traffic are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes receiving a first IP control packet at an input of a first server, the first IP control packet being received from a first router, selecting a second router within a router array associated with the first router to send the first IP control packet, the first server selecting the second router by matching a destination IP address of the first IP control packet to a first IP address subspace associated with the second router, transmitting the first IP control packet to the second router, and updating a forwarding table in the first router by associating the destination IP address of the first IP control packet with a first control path from the first router to the second router.

Abstract: An internet router is implemented as a network fabric of fabric routers and links. The internet router receives data packets from trunk lines or other internet links and analyzes header information in the data packets to route the data packets to output internet links. The line interface also analyzes the header to define a fabric path through the router fabric. The internet packets are broken into flits which are transferred through the router according to a wormhole routing protocol. Flits are stored in fabric routers at storage locations assigned to virtual channels corresponding to destination internet links. The virtual channels and links within the fabric define virtual networks in which congestion in one virtual network is substantially nonblocking to data flow through other virtual networks. Arbitration is performed at each fabric router to assign packets to virtual channels and to assign virtual channels to output fabric links.

Abstract: A switching device includes multiple interfaces and a switch fabric. The switch fabric includes switch integrated circuits arranged in a number of stages. Multiple virtual switch planes may be implemented in the switch fabric. Data traffic received at the interfaces is selectively assigned to different ones of the virtual switch planes.