Flow-Rate-Regulated Burst Switches

• US 20090207859A1
• Filed: 04/21/2009
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Rockstar Bidco LP (Rockstar Consortium Inc.)
• Inventors: Beshai, Maged E., Jamoussi, Bilel N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,031,598 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/474
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/103 using a shared central buffer; using a shared memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/254 Centralised controller, i.e. arbitration or scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/3072 Packet splitting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/357 Fibre channel switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0066 Provisions for optical burst or packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0071 Provisions for the electrical-optical layer interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0064 Arbitration, scheduling or medium access control aspects

Abstract

Burst-switching nodes using a common-memory or a time shared space switch and employing flow-rate control are disclosed. Within a switching node, data bursts are segmented into data segments of a fixed size with some segments containing information bits as well as null bits. A switching node handles data streams allocated different flow rates and, for any data stream, the internal flow rate through the switching node can be higher than the external flow rate due to null padding of segmented data. The switching node is provided with a sufficient internal capacity expansion in order to offset the effect of null padding. A controller of the switching node is provided with a flow-rate-regulation apparatus to enable scheduling the transfer of data segments across the switching node in a manner that guarantees adherence to the allocated information flow rates.

Claims

1. A method of temporal switching of a succession of data bursts of variable sizes each of said data bursts containing information bits and belonging to one of a multiplicity of data streams and each of said data streams is granted an allocated flow rate, the method comprising steps of:

segmenting each of said data bursts into data segments, each of said data segments containing a number of said information bits not exceeding a predefined fixed segment size of W bits;

complementing each of said data segments having a number of information bits less than W with null bits;

recording the number of said information bits in each of said data segments;

writing said resulting succession of data segments in at least one memory device;

reading, from said at least one memory device, data bursts according to said allocated flow rate granted to each data stream.