SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FLEXIBLE SWITCHING FABRIC
First Claim
1. A network switching device comprising:
- a plurality of connectors configured to couple the network switching device to other network devices;
one or more front panel cards, each front panel card including one or more first ports and configured to forward network packets between the first ports;
one or more fabric cards, each fabric card including one or more second ports and configured to forward network packets between the second ports; and
a port multiplexing unit configured to flexibly couple the plurality of connectors to the one or more first ports and the one or more second ports to the one or more first ports.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for a flexible switching fabric includes a network switching device. The network switching device includes a plurality of connectors configured to couple the network switching device to other network devices, one or more front panel cards, each front panel card including one or more first ports and configured to forward network packets between the first ports, one or more fabric cards, each fabric card including one or more second ports and configured to forward network packets between the second ports, and a port multiplexing unit configured to flexibly couple the plurality of connectors to the one or more first ports and the one or more second ports to the one or more first ports. The flexible coupling between the one or more first ports and the plurality of connectors and the one or more second ports is determined based on a desired configuration for the network switching device.
14 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A network switching device comprising:
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a plurality of connectors configured to couple the network switching device to other network devices; one or more front panel cards, each front panel card including one or more first ports and configured to forward network packets between the first ports; one or more fabric cards, each fabric card including one or more second ports and configured to forward network packets between the second ports; and a port multiplexing unit configured to flexibly couple the plurality of connectors to the one or more first ports and the one or more second ports to the one or more first ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of configuring a network switching device, the method comprising:
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determining a desired configuration for the network switching device; determining first mappings between a plurality of connectors configured to couple the network switching device to other network devices and one more first ports of one or more front panel cards based on information associated with the desired configuration; determining second mappings between the one or more first ports and one or more second ports of one or more fabric cards based on information associated with the desired configuration; and provisioning a port multiplexing unit based on the first mappings and the second mappings; wherein the provisioned port multiplexing unit couples the plurality of connectors to the first ports and the second ports to the first ports. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An information handing system comprising:
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a network switching device comprising; a plurality of connectors configured to couple the network switching device to other network devices; one or more front panel cards, each front panel card including one or more first ports and configured to forward network packets between the first ports; one or more fabric cards, each fabric card including one or more second ports and configured to forward network packets between the second ports; a port multiplexing unit configured to flexibly couple the plurality of connectors to the one or more first ports and the one or more second ports to the one or more first ports; and a unified provisioning system configured to provision the port multiplexing unit; wherein the unified provisioning system is configured to; determine a desired configuration for the network switching device; determine first mappings between the plurality of connectors and the one more first ports based on information associated with the desired configuration; determine second mappings between the one or more first ports and the one or more second ports based on information associated with the desired configuration; and provision the port multiplexing unit based on the first mappings and the second mappings.
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Specification