Network switch with separate cut-through buffer
First Claim
1. A network switch for enabling communication among a plurality of networks, each including at least one network device, comprising:
- a plurality of network ports for receiving and transmitting data;
a data bus coupled to said plurality of network ports;
a memory; and
a switch manager coupled to said data bus and to said memory for controlling data flow, said switch manager including;
a receive buffer for receiving data from any one of said plurality of network ports and for providing data to said memory;
a transmit buffer for receiving data from said memory and for providing data to at least one of said plurality of network ports; and
a cut-through buffer for receiving data from any one of said plurality of network ports and for providing data directly to another one of said plurality of network ports.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A network switch including a separate cut-through buffer for facilitating cut-through mode of data transfer. The switch further includes a data bus coupled to each of the ports, a memory and a switch manager coupled to the data bus and to the memory for controlling data flow. The switch manager includes a receive buffer for handling data received by the switch, a transmit buffer for handling data to be transmitted by the switch, and a separate cut-through buffer for receiving data at any of the ports and for buffering the data to another one of the ports during cut-through mode of operation. The switch manager includes status memory, which includes programmable receive and transmit mode values for each of the ports, the modes selecting between cut-through and store-and-forward mode of operation for an indicated direction for each port. Control logic operates source and destination ports in cut-through mode if the receive mode value of the source port and the transmit mode value of the destination port have both been programmed to select cut-through mode.
140 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A network switch for enabling communication among a plurality of networks, each including at least one network device, comprising:
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a plurality of network ports for receiving and transmitting data; a data bus coupled to said plurality of network ports; a memory; and a switch manager coupled to said data bus and to said memory for controlling data flow, said switch manager including; a receive buffer for receiving data from any one of said plurality of network ports and for providing data to said memory; a transmit buffer for receiving data from said memory and for providing data to at least one of said plurality of network ports; and a cut-through buffer for receiving data from any one of said plurality of network ports and for providing data directly to another one of said plurality of network ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A network system, comprising:
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a plurality of networks, each including at least one data device for sending and receiving data packets; and a network switch coupled to said plurality of networks for transferring data packets, said network switch comprising; a plurality of network ports for receiving and transmitting data packets; a data bus coupled to said plurality of network ports; a memory; and a switch manager coupled to said data bus and to said memory for controlling flow of data packets, said switch manager including; a receive buffer for receiving data from any one of said plurality of network ports and for providing data to any of said plurality of network ports and to said memory; a transmit buffer for receiving data from said memory and for providing data to at least one of said plurality of network ports; a cut-through buffer for receiving data from any one of said plurality of network ports and for providing data directly to another one of said plurality of network ports; and control logic coupled to said data bus and to said receive, transmit and cut-through buffers for controlling flow of data packets on said data bus. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification