METHODS AND APPARATUS RELATED TO A LOW COST DATA CENTER ARCHITECTURE
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a first edge device having a packet processing module, the first edge device configured to receive a packet, the packet processing module of the first edge device configured to produce a plurality of cells based on the packet;
a second edge device having a packet processing module configured to reassemble the packet based on the plurality of cells; and
a multi-stage switch fabric coupled to the first edge device and the second edge device, the multi-stage switch fabric defining a single logical entity, the multi-stage switch fabric having a plurality of switch modules, each switch module from the plurality of switch modules having a shared memory device, the multi-stage switch fabric configured to switch the plurality of cells so that the plurality of cells are sent to the second edge device.
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Abstract
In one embodiment, an apparatus can include a first edge device that can have a packet processing module. The first edge device can be configured to receive a packet. The packet processing module of the first edge device can be configured to produce cells based on the packet. A second edge device can have a packet processing module configured to reassemble the packet based on the cells. A multi-stage switch fabric can be coupled to the first edge device and the second edge device. The multi-stage switch fabric can define a single logical entity. The multi-stage switch fabric can have switch modules. Each switch module from the switch modules can have a shared memory device. The multi-stage switch fabric can be configured to switch the cells so that the cells are sent to the second edge device.
211 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a first edge device having a packet processing module, the first edge device configured to receive a packet, the packet processing module of the first edge device configured to produce a plurality of cells based on the packet; a second edge device having a packet processing module configured to reassemble the packet based on the plurality of cells; and a multi-stage switch fabric coupled to the first edge device and the second edge device, the multi-stage switch fabric defining a single logical entity, the multi-stage switch fabric having a plurality of switch modules, each switch module from the plurality of switch modules having a shared memory device, the multi-stage switch fabric configured to switch the plurality of cells so that the plurality of cells are sent to the second edge device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus, comprising:
a multi-stage switch fabric defining a single logical entity, the multi-stage switch fabric configured to be coupled to a first edge device and a second edge device, the multi-stage switch fabric including a plurality of switch modules, each switch module from the plurality of switch modules including a shared memory device configured to define a queue having a length sufficient for the multi-stage switch fabric to implement cell-switching synchronization and insufficient for the multi-stage switch fabric to implement a congestion resolution scheme at that switch module. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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receiving a plurality of cells at a plurality of input ports of a multi-stage switch fabric, each cell from the plurality of cells being associated with a packet from a plurality of packets received by a plurality of ingress edge devices; and switching each cell from the plurality of cells through a multi-stage switch fabric without performing Ethernet-based processing within the multi-stage switch fabric, the multi-stage switch fabric defining a single Ethernet hop between the plurality of ingress edge devices and a plurality of egress edge devices, the multi-stage switch fabric having a plurality of switch modules, each switch module from the plurality of switch modules having a shared memory device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification