Burst switching in a high capacity network
First Claim
1. An edge node in a network, said edge node comprising:
- an edge controller including a slave time counter;
means for time-locking said slave time counter to a master time counter associated with a core node in said network;
means for forming data bursts;
means for associating, with each of said data bursts, indicators of destination and burst duration;
means for communicating said burst-indicators to said core node;
means for receiving burst-transfer schedules from said core node; and
means for transmitting data bursts according to said schedules.
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Abstract
At a master controller of a space switch in a node in a data network, a request is received from a source node that requests a connection to be established through the space switch. This request is compared to other such requests so that a schedule may be established for access to the space switch. The schedule is then sent to the source nodes as well as to a slave controller of the space switch. The source nodes send data bursts which are received at the space switch during a short guard time between successive reconfigurations of the space switch. Data bursts are received at the space switch at a precisely determined instant of time that ensures that the space switch has already reconfigured to provide requested paths for the individual bursts. The scheduling is pipelined and performed in a manner that attempts to reduce mismatch intervals of the occupancy states of input and output ports of the space switch. The method thus allows efficient utilization of the data network resources while ensuring virtually no data loss.
15 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An edge node in a network, said edge node comprising:
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an edge controller including a slave time counter;
means for time-locking said slave time counter to a master time counter associated with a core node in said network;
means for forming data bursts;
means for associating, with each of said data bursts, indicators of destination and burst duration;
means for communicating said burst-indicators to said core node;
means for receiving burst-transfer schedules from said core node; and
means for transmitting data bursts according to said schedules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A core node in a burst-switching network, said core node comprising:
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at least one space switch each having a plurality of input ports, a plurality of output ports, and a burst scheduler for scheduling transfer of bursts of arbitrary sizes from said plurality of input ports to said plurality of output ports; and
a master controller operable to;
exchange time-locking signals with each of a plurality of edge nodes;
receive, from at least one edge node of said plurality of edge nodes, a stream of burst-transfer requests for bursts of arbitrary sizes; and
allocate each of said burst-transfer requests to one of said at least one space switch. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A scheduler for scheduling transfer of bursts from a plurality of N input ports to a plurality of M output ports of a space switch, the scheduler comprising:
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first means for determining a first time index at which each input port becomes unoccupied;
second means for determining a second time index at which each output port becomes unoccupied;
third means for receiving burst-transfer requests, each of said burst-transfer requests indicating an input port, an output port, and a burst duration;
fourth means for selecting a particular input port having the least first time index; and
fifth means for updating said least first time index corresponding to said particular input port. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification