Off-Chip Interface for External Routing
First Claim
1. A network switch ASIC, comprising:
- one or more ports configured for receiving frames from the network and generating route requests;
an internal router coupled to one or more of the ports, the internal router configured for receiving a route request and, based on the route request, either generating route programming information for creating a route within the internal router or forwarding the route request to an external router for generating a route response; and
a router extension port coupled to the internal router and configured for forwarding the route request to an external router and receiving the route response from the external router.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The use of routing logic within a single ASIC to save space, along with a way to modify and/or supplement the routing logic after the ASIC has been fabricated is disclosed. This is accomplished by providing a programmable “detour” or external router interface to allow for off-chip state machine portions or other external routing logic to be accessed. With this external router interface, additional routing modes or features that were not planned before the release of the ASIC can be implemented after release. The on-chip centralized routing logic may operate on incoming frames, and selectively operate on certain areas in the header to make the route. The off-chip state machine portions can complement the on-chip routing logic by working with the on-chip router, or replace certain portions of it.
26 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A network switch ASIC, comprising:
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one or more ports configured for receiving frames from the network and generating route requests; an internal router coupled to one or more of the ports, the internal router configured for receiving a route request and, based on the route request, either generating route programming information for creating a route within the internal router or forwarding the route request to an external router for generating a route response; and a router extension port coupled to the internal router and configured for forwarding the route request to an external router and receiving the route response from the external router. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An external router for providing routing functionality to a network switch ASIC, comprising:
one or more finite state machines configured for receiving a route request from an internal router in the network switch ASIC and providing a route response back to the internal router, the route response including a response type and containing information for creating a route. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method for generating route programming information for a network switch ASIC, comprising:
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generating a route request based on one or more frames received from the network; and based on the route request, selectively generating route programming information for creating a route within an internal router, or forwarding the route request to an external router for generating a route response. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for providing routing functionality to a network switch ASIC, comprising:
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receiving a route request into an external router from an internal router in the network switch ASIC; and generating a route response in the external router and sending the route response back to the internal router, the route response including a response type and containing information for creating a route. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification