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ATM cell switch suitable for multicast switching

  • US 5,436,893 A
  • Filed: 11/05/1993
  • Issued: 07/25/1995
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/05/1992
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An ATM cell switch suitable for multicast switching in an ATM data network in which data cells are exchanged, each cell having a payload and a cell header, the cell header including a virtual path identifier and a virtual channel identifier which identify the destination of the cell, said switch comprising:

  • a) a crosspoint switch having a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports;

    b) a plurality of link controllers, each of said link controllers being coupled to one of said plurality of input ports and one of said plurality of output ports, each of said link controllers includingi) input-output means for receiving and transmitting cells from and to at least one external data link;

    ii) addressing means for changing the virtual path identifiers and virtual channel identifiers in the cell header of the received cells;

    iii) means for adding an additional identifier to the cell header of a received cell which is to be multicast, identifying particular ones of said link controllers, such that said crosspoint switch receives said cell which is to be multicast and causes copies of said received cell to be provided to said particular ones of said link controllers for output by said input-output means of said link controllers.

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