Reconfigurable, fault tolerant, multistage interconnect network and protocol
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A communications system, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and
(b) means for connecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network, the means for connecting comprising forward channel and back channel signal paths coupled to each of the input and output ports in the switch nodes, wherein the back channel signal paths have a narrower bandwidth relative to the forward channel signal paths to simplify packaging.
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Abstract
A multistage interconnect network (MIN) capable of supporting massive parallel processing, including point-to-point and multicast communications between processor modules (PMs) which are connected to the input and output ports of the network. The network is built using interconnected switch nodes arranged in 2 logb N stages, wherein b is the number of switch node input/output ports, N is the number of network input/output ports and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N. The additional stages provide additional paths between network input ports and network output ports, thereby enhancing fault tolerance and lessening contention.
156 Citations
153 Claims
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1. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for connecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network, the means for connecting comprising forward channel and back channel signal paths coupled to each of the input and output ports in the switch nodes, wherein the back channel signal paths have a narrower bandwidth relative to the forward channel signal paths to simplify packaging. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of communicating among a plurality of switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports, the method comprising:
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(a) transmitting messages between switch nodes using a forward channel coupled to each of the input and output ports in the switch nodes; and (b) transmitting between switch nodes using a back channel coupled to each of the input and output ports in the switch nodes, wherein the back channels have a narrower bandwidth relative to the forward channels to simplify packaging. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A communication system having a plurality of ports for concurrently transferring messages between different ones of the ports, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of agents connected to the system, each including means providing interconnect request messages containing routing tags for communicating with other agents, means for transmitting variable length data messages, and means for transmitting response messages of different types having values in accordance with a predetermined protocol; and (b) network means for intercoupling the agents, the network means comprising a plurality of switch nodes arranged in a multistage interconnect network and each having a plurality of forward channel and back channel signal paths with selectable interconnections between different terminals of the switch nodes, the back channel signal paths having a narrower bandwidth relative to the forward channel signal paths, the switch nodes also including means responsive to the routing tags in the messages for selecting signal paths between switch nodes in order to establish a complete path through the network, and the switch nodes further comprising means for reserving the complete path during the transmission of variable length data messages, once request messages and response messages thereto have been successfully interchanged.
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24. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for interconnecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network to simplify the cabling therebetween, wherein a pattern of interconnections between different stages of switch nodes is specified by permuting the digits of a level number representing a port of a switch node. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for connecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network by connecting switch node ports identified by (S;
xn-1 . . . x1 x0) to switch node ports identified by (S+1;
PERMUTEnS {xn-1 . . . x1 x0 }), wherein S indicates a switch node in a specific stage, n refers to a total number of stages in the network and hence its size, and x is a level number of a switch node port represented as (xn-1 . . . x1 x0)b in a base b corresponding to the size of the switch nodes, wherein 0≦
xi <
b, 0≦
i<
n and PERMUTEnS {xn-1 . . . x1 x0 } is equivalent to PERMUTE20 {x1 x0 }=x0 x1 for a network wherein n=2.
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32. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for connecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network by connecting switch node ports identified by (S;
xn-1 . . . x1 x0) to switch node ports identified by (S+1;
PERMUTEnS {xn-1 . . . x1 x0 }), wherein S indicates a switch node in a specific stage, n refers to a total number of stages in the network and hence its size, and x is a level number of a switch node port represented as (xn-1 . . . x1 x0)b in a base b corresponding to the size of the switch nodes, wherein 0≦
xi <
b, 0≦
i<
n and PERMUTEnS {xn-1 . . . x1 x0 } is equivalent to PERMUTE30 {x2 x1 x0 }=x2 x0 x1 and PERMUTE31 {x2 x1 x0 }=x1 x0x2 for a network wherein n=3.
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33. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for connecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network by connecting switch node ports identified by (S;
xn-1 . . . x1 x0) to switch node ports identified by (S+1;
PERMUTEnS }xn-1 . . . x1 x0 }), wherein S indicates a switch node in a specific stage, n refers to a total number of stages in the network and hence its size, and x is a level number of a switch node port represented as (xn-1 . . . x1 x0)b in a base b corresponding to the size of the switch nodes, wherein 0≦
xi <
b, 0≦
i<
n and PERMUTEnS {xn-1 . . . x1 x0 } is equivalent to PERMUTE30 {x2 x1 x0 }=x2 x0 x1 and PERMUTE31 {x2 x1 x0 }=x0 x1 x2 for a network wherein n=3.
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34. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for connecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network by connecting switch node ports identified by (S;
xn-1 . . . x1 x0) to switch node ports identified by (S+1;
PERMUTEnS {xn-1 . . . x1 x0 }), wherein S indicates a switch node in a specific stage, n refers to a total number of stages in the network and hence its size, and x is a level number of a switch node port represented as (xn-1 . . . x1 x0)b in a base b corresponding to the size of the switch nodes, wherein 0≦
xi <
b, 0≦
i<
n and PERMUTEnS {xn-1 . . . x1 x0 } is equivalent to PERMUTE40 {x3 x2 x1 x0 }=x3 x2 x0 x1, PERMUTE41 {x3 x2 x1 x0 }=x.sub. 1 x0 x3 x2, and PERMUTE42 {x3 x2 x1 x0 }=x3 x2 x0 x 1 for a network wherein n=4.
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35. A communications network, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes arranged into a multistage interconnect network having a plurality of input and output ports, each port being coupled to an agent to effect communication between agents through the network; (b) the network having a multiple of logb N stages of interconnected switch nodes, wherein b is a total number of switch node input/output ports, N is the number of network I/O ports, and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N, thereby providing additional paths between any network input port and network output port to enhance fault tolerance and lessen contention; and (c) the network having a loop-back point indicating where the stages of the network are physically folded together so that corresponding switch nodes in similarly numbered stages on either side of the loop-back point are located adjacent to each other, thereby simplifying packaging and minimizing signal path lengths.
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36. An apparatus for concurrently transferring messages between different ports, comprising:
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(a) multistage interconnect network means for interconnecting a plurality of switch nodes for communication therebetween, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) dynamic configuration means for determining how the switch nodes are interconnected and hence a topology of the multistage interconnect network means, so that messages can be routed correctly between the switch nodes. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. A network, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each having a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and path selector means for selectively connecting the switch node input ports to the switch node output ports; (b) means for interconnecting the switch nodes in a relatively arbitrary manner to effect a multistage interconnect network, the network having a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for routing messages through the network by transmitting a message from one switch node to another switch node; and (c) means for determining how the switch nodes have been interconnected and for constructing routing tables for each switch node in response thereto, so that the path selector means can connect an input port receiving a message to an output port for transferring the message in order to correctly transmit the message. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) network means for providing bidirectional data transmission between agents, the network means comprising switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) tag mapping table means, in each switch node, for storing routing information derived from the addresses of the switch nodes, so that the data transmission can be routed correctly through the network means.
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42. A method for communicating in a network comprising a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node having a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and path selector means for selectively connecting the switch node input ports to the switch node output ports, the method comprising:
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(a) interconnecting the switch nodes in a relatively arbitrary manner to effect a multistage interconnect network; (b) determining how the switch nodes have been interconnected; (c) constructing routing tables for each switch node according to how the switch nodes have been interconnected; and (d) transferring messages through the network according to the routing tables, wherein each switch node that receives the messages uses a routing table to determine which output port should receive the message. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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44. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) network means for providing bidirectional data transmission between agents connected thereto, the network means comprising switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) self-diagnosing means, integrated with the network, for detecting and reporting any errors that occur within the network. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
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47. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) a multistage interconnect network comprising a plurality of interconnected active logic switch nodes; (b) diagnostic means for detecting and reporting any errors that occur within the network, and for isolating the errors without propagating them, thereby improving diagnosability and serviceability; (c) reconfiguration means for reconfiguring the network when an error is detected, without interrupting communications in the system, so that any degradation in performance is minimized. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method for communicating in a multistage interconnect network comprising a plurality of interconnected active logic switch nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting and reporting any errors that occur within the network, and isolating the errors without propagating them, thereby improving serviceability; and (b) reconfiguring the network when an error is detected, without interrupting communications in the system, so that any degradation in performance in the reconfigured network is minimized. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55)
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56. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) a multistage interconnect network comprising a plurality of interconnected active logic switch nodes; (b) each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; (c) the multistage interconnect network comprising more than logb N stages of switch nodes, wherein b is a total number of switch node input/output ports, N is a total number of network input/output ports, and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N, the stages thereby providing a plurality of paths between any network input port and network output port to enhance fault tolerance and lessen contention; (d) diagnostic means for detecting and reporting any errors that occur within the network, thereby improving serviceability; and (e) reconfiguration means for reconfiguring the network, without interrupting the communications in the system, when an error is detected, and for isolating the error without propagating it, so that any degradation in performance in the reconfigured network is minimized. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) a network comprising at least two input ports and two output ports, and capable of simultaneous communications between a different pair of input and output ports; (b) message routing means, within the network, for accepting a connect request containing a routing tag identifying an output port destination for the message, and for steering the connect request to the output port destination; (c) back-off means, within the network, for cancelling the connect request when the output port destination is unavailable; and (d) retry means, triggered by the back-off means, for delaying a retry of the connect request, and for trying a different connect request between the input port and a different output port destination, thereby reducing contention in the network. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68)
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69. A communications method for a network comprising at least two input ports and two output ports, and capable of simultaneous communications between a different pair of input and output ports, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) accepting a connect request containing a routing tag identifying an output port destination for the message, and steering the connect request to the output port destination; (b) cancelling the connect request when the output port destination is unavailable; and (c) delaying a retry of the connect request, and for trying a different connect request from the input port, thereby reducing contention in the network. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72)
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73. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a multistage interconnect network comprising a plurality of interconnected active logic switch nodes; (b) each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; (c) the multistage interconnect network comprising more than logb N stages of switch nodes, wherein b is a total number of switch node input/output ports, N is a total number of network input/output ports, and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N, thereby providing a plurality of paths between any network input port and network output port to enhance fault tolerance and lessen contention; and (d) load balancing means, in each switch node, for distributing messages among the plurality of output ports so that messages are evenly distributed throughout the network. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75)
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76. A system for concurrently transferring messages between different ports, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting the input ports to the output ports; and (b) means for interconnecting the switch nodes in a multistage interconnect network having a first plurality of network input ports and a second plurality of network output ports; (c) partitioning means for grouping the network ports into logically independent subsets, wherein each subset is a supercluster; and (d) multicast means, operative within the network, for transmitting a message from a network input port to one or more network output ports grouped in a supercluster, wherein messages transmitted within any one supercluster are prevented from interfering with messages transmitted within any other supercluster. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. A method for concurrently transferring messages between different ports of a multistage interconnect network having a plurality of interconnected switch nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) grouping the network ports into logically independent subsets, wherein each subset is a supercluster; and (b) transmitting a message from a network input port to one or more network output ports grouped in a supercluster, wherein messages transmitted within any one supercluster are prevented from interfering with messages transmitted within any other supercluster. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85)
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86. A system for concurrently transferring messages between different ports, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for connecting the switch nodes together in a multistage interconnect network, the means for connecting comprising forward channel and back channel signal paths; and (c) multicast means, operative within the network, for transmitting forward channel messages from a source to one or more destinations; and (d) back channel merge means, within each switch node, for combining back channel replies received from the destinations into a single result, wherein the result is transmitted on the back channel to the source. - View Dependent Claims (87, 88, 89)
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90. A method for concurrently transferring messages between different ports of multistage interconnect network, the network comprising a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports, the switch nodes connected together via forward channel and back channel signal paths connected to every input and output port, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) transmitting forward channel messages from a source to one or more destinations; and (b) combining back channel replies received from the destinations into a single result, wherein the result is transmitted on the back channel to the source. - View Dependent Claims (91, 92, 93)
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94. A system for concurrently transferring messages, comprising:
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(a) a multistage interconnect network comprising a plurality of interconnected active logic switch nodes; (b) each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; (c) the multistage interconnect network comprising more than logb N stages of switch nodes, wherein b is a total number of switch node input/output ports, N is a total number of network input/output ports, and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N, the multistage interconnect network providing a plurality of paths between any network input port and network output port to enhance fault tolerance and lessen contention; and (d) multicast steering means, within each switch node, for routing multicast requests to a specific input port of a specific switch node within the network, so that only one multicast request can occur at a time, thereby preventing deadlock between competing multicast requests. - View Dependent Claims (95, 96, 97)
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98. An apparatus for concurrently transferring messages between different ports, comprising:
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(a) a multistage interconnect network comprising a plurality of interconnected active logic switch nodes; (b) each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports, (c) the multistage interconnect network comprising more than logb N stages of switch nodes, wherein b is a total number of switch node input/output ports, N is a total number of network input ports and network output ports, and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N, the multistage interconnect network providing a plurality of paths between any network input port and network output port to enhance fault tolerance and lessen contention; and (d) deadlock avoidance means, within each switch node, for allowing only one routing multicast request at a time, thereby preventing deadlock between requests. - View Dependent Claims (99)
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100. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes arranged into a multistage interconnect network having a plurality of input and output ports, each port being coupled to an agent to effect communication between agents through the network; (b) the network having more than logb N stages of interconnected switch nodes, wherein b is a total number of switch node input/output ports, N is the number of network input/output ports, and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N; and (c) the network having a plurality of turnaround points at the highest stage of switch nodes, the turnaround points logically differentiating between switch nodes that load balance messages through the network from switch nodes that direct messages to receiving agents; (d) means for depopulating switch nodes from the highest stage to reduce the number of turnaround points in the network, as long as at least one path exists between every network input port and every network output port; and (e) the input and output ports of the switch nodes in stages adjacent the highest stage sensing when the switch nodes in the highest stage ar removed and disabling the input and output ports in response thereto, thereby lowering the bandwidth of the network and lowering the cost of the network without a loss of functionality.
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101. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) multistage interconnect network means for interconnecting a plurality of switch nodes for communication therebetween; (b) dynamic configuration means for determining how the switch nodes are interconnected by the multistage interconnect network means; and (c) means for remapping connections between the switch nodes so that all connections in a backplane connecting the switch nodes are horizontal.
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102. A network, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; (b) backplane means for interconnecting the input and output ports of different switch nodes of effect a multistage interconnect network; and (c) tag mapping table means for remapping the interconnections between the switch nodes so that all connections in the backplane means are horizontal only.
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103. A communications systems, comprising:
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(a) a network comprising a plurality of interconnected switch nodes; and (b) identification means for communicating a unique identifier to each agent attached to the network, so that an agent can be connected to any available port of the network and determine its address therein, thereby simplifying installation. - View Dependent Claims (104, 105, 106)
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107. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) network means for providing bidirectional data transmission between a plurality of agents connected thereto, the network means comprising switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) means for arranging components within the network means and interconnections between switch nodes, so that the number of agents can be increased with only a substantially linear increase in the size of the network means. - View Dependent Claims (108, 109, 110)
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111. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) network means, coupled to the agents, for providing bidirectional data transmission between a plurality of agents connected thereto, the network means comprising switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; and (b) cabling means for wiring between different stages in the network means with one or more copies of a universal wiring pattern. - View Dependent Claims (112, 113)
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114. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) network means for providing bidirectional data transmission between a plurality of agents connected thereto, the network means comprising switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports; (b) master clock means for supplying a master clock signal to the switch nodes throughout the network means; and (c) controller means, coupled between the network means and the agents, for communicating messages between the agent and the network means, the controller means comprising clock extraction means for deriving the master clock signal transmitted throughout the network means, wherein the master clock signal increments a counter in the controller means to provide a synchronous date and time of day to each agent.
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115. A system for communicating in a variety of modes between one or more transmitting agents and one or more receiving agents, comprising:
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(a) a multistage interconnect network intercoupling all the agents with transmit and receive lines, the network comprising a plurality of switch nodes arranged in parallel groupings in a plurality of stages within the network; (b) the transmitting agents including means for transmitting message routing packets containing destination data designating one or more receiving agents and means for transmitting variable length data messages; and (c) wherein the switch nodes each comprise means responsive to the message routing packets for selecting node-to-node paths to one or more receiving agents, wherein the switch nodes also comprise means for acknowledging receipt of a message routing packet and means for preserving the circuit connection for subsequent transmission of a variable length message.
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116. An active logic network, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes, each having a plurality of "left-hand" ports and a plurality of "right-hand" ports, wherein within the switch node, any left hand port can be connected to any right hand port, and any right hand port can be connected to any left hand port; (b) means, within each switch node, for accepting a routing tag at an input port identifying a destination in the network; and (c) routing determination means, within each switch node, for translating the routing tag into an output port selection of the switch node, thereby identifying a path to the destination. - View Dependent Claims (117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122)
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123. A communications system, comprising:
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(a) network means, coupled to the agents, for providing bidirectional data transmission between network ports, the network means comprising switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network; and (b) arbiter means, in each switch node, for choosing between contending connect requests accepted concurrently from a plurality of switch node ports, wherein the contending connect requests are all trying to access a selected output port at the same time, so that a connect request is transmitted to the selected output port when it has been granted priority over the contending connect requests. - View Dependent Claims (124, 125)
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126. A system for transmitting messages between agents in (1) an arbitrary interconnection mode or (2) a multicast mode, comprising:
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(a) a multistage interconnect network comprising a plurality of multiple terminal bidirectional switch nodes arrayed in a plurality of stages; (b) the agents each including means for generating addressing messages containing destination data, including alternative descriptors for individual and multicast group designations, and each being coupled to the switch nodes; and (c) wherein the switch nodes further include means responsive to the descriptors in the addressing messages for selecting routing paths through the network and means responsive to path selection for establishing path commitments linking agents for communication of variable length messages.
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127. A network for communicating between agents connected thereto, comprising:
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(a) packet switching means for establishing a communication path between sending and receiving agents in response to a connect request; (b) circuit switching means for transferring messages of arbitrary length between the sending and receiving processors once the communication path has been established; (c) pipelining means for transferring messages between sending agents and the receiving agents without waiting for the communication path to be established; and (d) back-off means for cancelling the connect request when the communication path to the receiving agent is unavailable; and (e) retry means, triggered by the back-off means, for delaying a retry of the connect request, and for trying a different connect request from the sending agent, thereby reducing contention in the network. - View Dependent Claims (128, 129)
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130. A communications apparatus, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of switch nodes arranged and interconnected into a multistage interconnect network; and (b) error testing means for generating test patterns during data transmission through the network, the error testing means comprising means, within each switch node, for inverting parity on the data transmission so that a receiving switch node reports an error. - View Dependent Claims (131, 132, 133)
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134. A switch node providing for the simultaneous interconnection of multiple messages, comprising:
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(a) means defining a plurality of input and output ports; (b) means for selectively connecting any input port to (1) any one output port, (2) a predetermined number of the output ports, or (3) all of the output ports; and (c) error testing means for generating test patterns to test data transmission on the input and output ports, the error testing means comprising means for inverting parity on the data transmission so that a switch node receiving the data transmission reports an error. - View Dependent Claims (135, 136, 137)
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138. A switch node for use in a network having a plurality of similar nodes interconnected by cabling, for simultaneous interconnection of multiple messages of different types, including message routing packets, comprising:
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(a) means defining a plurality of input and output terminals; (b) means for storing reconfigurable mapping data which identifies available interconnection paths using the input and output terminals; and (c) means, coupled to the means for storing, for arbitrarily interconnecting any input with (1) any one output, (2) a predetermined number of the outputs or (3) all the outputs. - View Dependent Claims (139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147)
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148. A computer system, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of processors comprising (1) application processors (AP) for connecting external devices to the system, and (2) access module processors (AMP) for managing access to a relational database; and (b) network means, coupled to the processors, for providing bidirectional data transmission between the processors, the network means comprising switch nodes connected together in a multistage interconnect network, each switch node comprising a first plurality of input ports, a second plurality of output ports, and means for selectively connecting said input ports to said output ports, the network having more than logb N stages of interconnected switch nodes, wherein b is a total number of switch node input/output ports, N is the number of network input/output ports, and logb N indicates a ceiling function providing the smallest integer not less than logb N. - View Dependent Claims (149, 150, 151, 152, 153)
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Specification