Switched interconnection network with increased bandwidth and port count

• US 20020051427A1
• Filed: 07/12/2001
• Published: 05/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Avici Systems Inc.
• Inventors: Carvey, Philip P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,039,058 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/28 characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks] wireless communication networks H04W ; arrangements for dividing the transmission path H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/101 using crossbar or matrix
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/251 Cut-through or wormhole routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/254 Centralised controller, i.e. arbitration or scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/3018 Input queuing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/357 Fibre channel switches

Abstract

A network is disclosed for interconnecting devices external to the network. Embodiments of the network include a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by links forming or capable of forming a Gamma graph interconnection network. Devices are coupled to the network via a plurality of ports. Furthermore, the network includes a plurality of Infiniband buses with each switching node coupled to at least one of the buses. Each Infiniband bus is capable of supporting a configurable number of ports such that the bandwidth of a port is inversely proportional to the number of ports configured per bus. The Gamma graph interconnection network of the router providing for high port counts and increased bandwidth availability. Furthermore, the use of industry standard buses, such as Infiniband buses, allow for the interconnection of multiple heterogeneous application specific modules to interface and communicate with one another.

Claims

1. A network for interconnecting devices external to the network, comprising:

a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by links forming a Gamma graph interconnection network; and

a plurality of devices coupled to the network via a plurality of ports.

2. The network of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of buses, each switching node coupled to at least one of the plurality of buses, each bus capable of supporting a configurable number of ports, the bandwidth of a port being inversely proportional to the number of ports configured per bus.

3. The network of claim 1, wherein

the Gamma graph interconnection network has a diameter (D) and a radix (Δ

), the radix greater than the diameter;

the interconnection network being link fault tolerant by providing Δ

−

1 alternative paths between any two devices, packets alternatively routed between at least two devices over one of the Δ

−

1 paths through the interconnection network having a hop distance greater than the diameter.

4. The network of claim 1, wherein each switching node is interconnected to a subset of adjacent switching nodes, each switching node having a bidirectional interconnection with one of the adjacent switching nodes with the remaining interconnections being primarily unidirectional.

5. The network of claim 1, wherein the Gamma graph interconnection network having a radix equal to 8 and a diameter equal to 4 comprises:

3024 interconnected switching nodes;

at least 24 devices coupled to each switching node via ports; and

at least 2 logical data channels supported per port, each channel having a bandwidth of at least 2 gigabits per second.

6. The network of claim 5, wherein the Gamma graph interconnection network provides a total bandwidth of at least 290 terabits per second.

7. The network of claim 1, wherein the Gamma graph interconnection network comprises:

six or more interconnected switching nodes;

at least one device coupled to each switching node via ports; and

at least one logical data channel supported per port.

8. The network of claim 2, wherein each switching node comprises:

a switch;

at least one traffic manager coupled to the switch;

the traffic manager receiving data packets from one or more devices and forwarding at least portions of the packets into the interconnection network, the traffic manager buffering data packets in memory coupled to the traffic manager, the traffic manager receiving at least portions of data packets from the switch and forwarding the data packets out of the interconnection network to the one or more devices;

the switch coupled to switches of adjacent switching nodes by links fanning in and out of the switch according to a set of Gamma graph adjacency rules, the switch forwarding at least portions of data packets to the at least one traffic manager or to switches of adjacent switching nodes.

9. The network of claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of buses are coupled to the switching nodes by a traffic manager, the traffic manager transporting data packets from the one or more devices.

10. The network of claim 9, further comprising

at least one application specific module (ASM) providing an interface between at least one device and the switching node, the ASM transporting data packets from the at least one device to the bus.

11. The network of claim 2, wherein the plurality of buses are Infiniband™

buses.

12. The network of claim 2, wherein the plurality of buses are capable of supporting one or more logical data channels per port configured.

13. The network of claim 12, wherein the one or more logical data channels are Infiniband™

lanes.

14. The network of claim 10, wherein the application specific module couples to a device providing data, data processing, or data storage.

15. The network of claim 10, wherein the application specific module (ASM) is a network interface card.

16. The network of claim 15, wherein the network interface card is an Ethernet network interface card.

17. The network of claim 15, wherein the network interface card is an ATM network interface card.

18. The network of claim 10, wherein the application specific module (ASM) is a processor module.

19. The network of claim 10, wherein the application specific module (ASM) is a WAN interface card.

20. The network of claim 10, wherein the application specific module (ASM) is a POS interface card.

21. The network of claim 10, wherein the application specific module (ASM) is an Infiniband™

interface card.

22. A network for interconnecting devices external to the network, comprising:

a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by links forming an interconnection network having a diameter (D) and a radix (Δ

), the radix greater than the diameter;

a plurality of devices coupled to the network via ports; and

the interconnection network being link fault tolerant by providing Δ

−

1 alternative paths between any two devices, packets alternatively routed between at least two devices over one of the Δ

−

1 paths through the interconnection network having a hop distance greater than the diameter;

23. A network for interconnecting devices external to the network, comprising:

a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by links forming an interconnection network, each switching node interconnected to a subset of adjacent switching nodes, each switching node having a bidirectional interconnection with one of the adjacent switching nodes with the remaining interconnections being primarily unidirectional;

a plurality of devices coupled to the network via ports; and

packets routed among the plurality of devices by traversing one or more hops across the links.

24. A network for interconnecting devices, comprising:

a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by links, the interconnection network capable of forming a Gamma graph interconnection network;

a plurality of devices coupled to the network via ports; and

packets routed among the plurality of devices by traversing one or more hops across the links.