OUTPUT QUEUED SWITCH WITH A PARALLEL SHARED MEMORY, AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME
First Claim
1. A network switch, comprising:
- an input layer including N input circuits each coupled to an input port and having N buffers therein corresponding to N output terminals;
an intermediate layer including N intermediate circuits each having N input terminals and N output terminals, where a first output terminal of each input circuit is coupled to a first intermediate circuit and an Nth output terminal of each input circuit is coupled to a Kth intermediate circuit, where K={1, 2, . . . N}; and
an output layer including N output circuits each having N input terminals and an output port, where a first output terminal of each intermediate circuit is coupled to a first output circuit and an Nth output terminal of each intermediate circuit is coupled to an Lth output circuit, where L={1, 2, . . . N}.
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Accused Products
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. A selected intermediate layer circuit of the set of intermediate layer circuits receives the selected cell and assigns the selected cell to a selected buffer corresponding to the selected destination device. An output layer includes a set of output layer circuits corresponding to the set of destination devices. A selected output layer circuit of the set of output layer circuits stores the selected cell prior to routing the selected cell to a selected output layer circuit output node.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A network switch, comprising:
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an input layer including N input circuits each coupled to an input port and having N buffers therein corresponding to N output terminals; an intermediate layer including N intermediate circuits each having N input terminals and N output terminals, where a first output terminal of each input circuit is coupled to a first intermediate circuit and an Nth output terminal of each input circuit is coupled to a Kth intermediate circuit, where K={1, 2, . . . N}; and an output layer including N output circuits each having N input terminals and an output port, where a first output terminal of each intermediate circuit is coupled to a first output circuit and an Nth output terminal of each intermediate circuit is coupled to an Lth output circuit, where L={1, 2, . . . N}. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A network switch, comprising:
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an input layer including N input layer circuits, each input layer circuit including an input layer circuit input port and N queues corresponding to N output terminals; an intermediate layer including N intermediate layer circuits, each intermediate layer circuit including N buffers positioned between N intermediate layer circuit input terminals and N intermediate layer circuit output terminals; and an output layer including N output layer circuits, each output layer circuit having N output layer circuit input terminals and an output layer circuit output port, the N output layer circuit input terminals corresponding to individual intermediate layer circuit output terminals of the N intermediate layer circuits; wherein the input layer, the intermediate layer, and the output layer are formed on a single semiconductor substrate, the network switch being configurable to enable a first region of the single semiconductor substrate selected from the input layer, the intermediate layer and the output layer, while disabling two regions of the single semiconductor substrate selected from the input layer, the intermediate layer and the output layer. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A network switch comprising:
- . an input layer circuit configured to receive a serial data stream with a set of cells or data packets, each cell including data and a header to designate a destination device, and configured to assign a selected cell of the set of cells to a selected queue of a set of queues within the input layer circuit, the selected cell specifying a selected destination device, the selected queue corresponding to the selected destination device;
an input layer sorting circuit configured to fill the queue with a predetermined number of cells, forming a queue of serially received cells; an input layer transposer circuit configured to transpose the serially received cells into an alternative parallel format in which all-of the serially received cells in the queue may be accessed on an equal basis regardless of the original order in which the serially received cells were first serially received, when the predetermined number of cells is reached; a set of intermediate layer circuits within the set of intermediate layer circuits, the selected intermediate layer circuit including; a set of buffers corresponding to a set of destination devices, the selected intermediate layer circuit assigning the selected cell to a selected buffer of the set of buffers, the selected buffer corresponding to the selected destination device; and an intermediate layer sorting circuit for sorting or not sorting or modifying or duplicating parallel format cells based upon predetermined cell header criteria and/or predetermined order of cell serial arrival criteria; and a set of output layer circuits, the selected cell being sent as the selected cell arrives at the selected intermediate layer circuit to a selected output layer circuit within the set of output layer circuits, the selected output layer circuit corresponding the selected destination device, the selected output layer circuit storing the selected cell, and selected output layer circuit including an output layer transposer circuit for transposing the sorted or not sorted or modified or duplicated parallel format cells back into a serial format, prior to delivering the selected cell to an output node; wherein an input layer, an intermediate layer, and an output layer are formed on a single semiconductor substrate, the network switch being configurable to enable a first region of the single semiconductor substrate selected from the input layer, the intermediate layer and the output layer, while disabling two regions of the single semiconductor substrate selected from the input layer, the intermediate layer and the output layer. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- . an input layer circuit configured to receive a serial data stream with a set of cells or data packets, each cell including data and a header to designate a destination device, and configured to assign a selected cell of the set of cells to a selected queue of a set of queues within the input layer circuit, the selected cell specifying a selected destination device, the selected queue corresponding to the selected destination device;
Specification