Switching database cache management system
First Claim
1. A network switch comprising a plurality of ports, a packet engine for transferring incoming packets to an appropriate outgoing port dependent on a destination address carried in said packet, and a switching database providing switching information to said packet engine, said switching database comprising a low speed main database and a high speed cache, and a controller for transferring switching data between said database and said cache in accordance with a predetermined control policy.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network switch includes a plurality of ports, a packet engine for transferring incoming packets to an appropriate outgoing port dependent on a destination address carried in said packet, and a switching database providing switching information to said packet engine, said switching database comprising a low speed main database and a high speed cache, and a controller for transferring switching data between said database and said cache in accordance with a predetermined control policy.
10 Citations
8 Claims
- 1. A network switch comprising a plurality of ports, a packet engine for transferring incoming packets to an appropriate outgoing port dependent on a destination address carried in said packet, and a switching database providing switching information to said packet engine, said switching database comprising a low speed main database and a high speed cache, and a controller for transferring switching data between said database and said cache in accordance with a predetermined control policy.
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5. A method of forwarding packets in a network switch, comprising providing a switching database for storing destination address information, said switching database being divided into a main lower speed database and a high speed cache;
- searching for address information for an incoming packet first in said high speed cache, and in the event said information is not in said high speed cache subsequently searching for said information in said lower speed lower speed database; and
controlling the transfer of data between said high speed cache and said lower speed database in accordance with a predetermined policy. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
- searching for address information for an incoming packet first in said high speed cache, and in the event said information is not in said high speed cache subsequently searching for said information in said lower speed lower speed database; and
Specification