Process definition for source route switching
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A Token Ring Switch for use to interconnect communications network including:
- a switch fabric;
a plurality of ports;
a plurality of port modules interconnecting the plurality of ports to the switch fabric, with at least one of port module including a register for receiving a frame, and at least one look-up table including at least one address for each remote station accessible via another port of the switch along with the target Port of Exit (POE) tag and Bridge Number Lan ID for each remote source route bridge accessible via another port of the switch along with the target POE tag, means for identifying a source routed frame;
state machine for analyzing the source routed frame and extracting a first expression identifying an external Source Route Bridge Path from which the frame was received and a second expression identifying an External Source Route Bridge Path for said frame; and
state machine for using the first expression or second expression to access the look-up table and identify the Port of Exit (POE) to which the frame is to be routed via the switch fabric.
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Abstract
A device for interconnecting Local Area Networks (LANs) includes ports for attaching LAN segments and port modules for connecting the ports to a switch fabric. Each of the port modules include a mechanism which searches the Routing Information (RI) field of a Received frame to detect at least two Triplets (a minimum configuration for a LAN segment) indicating a Source path from an originator user and a Destination path to a destination user. The Triplet (single or in combination) is used to access a database (tables) which identifies the Port of Exit (POE) through which the frame is to be routed.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A Token Ring Switch for use to interconnect communications network including:
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a switch fabric; a plurality of ports; a plurality of port modules interconnecting the plurality of ports to the switch fabric, with at least one of port module including a register for receiving a frame, and at least one look-up table including at least one address for each remote station accessible via another port of the switch along with the target Port of Exit (POE) tag and Bridge Number Lan ID for each remote source route bridge accessible via another port of the switch along with the target POE tag, means for identifying a source routed frame;
state machine for analyzing the source routed frame and extracting a first expression identifying an external Source Route Bridge Path from which the frame was received and a second expression identifying an External Source Route Bridge Path for said frame; andstate machine for using the first expression or second expression to access the look-up table and identify the Port of Exit (POE) to which the frame is to be routed via the switch fabric. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for routing frames through a switch connected to a communications network comprising the steps of:
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providing a switch fabric in said switch; receiving at a port of said switch a frame; examining the frame; if the frame has an RI field, determining if L0 (LAN ID) in the frame matches the LAN ID of the port; if the L0 in the frame matches the LAN ID of the port;
using said L0 to determine a first path triplet L0 -BN0 -L1 with BN representing bridge number;using BN0 -L1 to determine a next bridge hop; if the next Bridge Hop is within the switch, generating a second path triplet L1 -BN1 -L2 ; and using the second expression to access a look-up table from which a Port of Exit for said Frame is read. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A Token Ring Switch for use to interconnect communications network including:
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a switch fabric; a plurality of ports; a plurality of port modules interconnecting the plurality of ports to the switch fabric, with each one of the plurality of port modules including a register for receiving a frame, port table that stores information including target Port of Exit through which a frame has to be routed to reach a destination station and at least one Function State Machine with the program logic to filter frames that do not need to traverse the switch to reach a Port of Exit to a destination, to parse a frame received from the port to which it is connected to extract information that is used to access the table and read the target POE, to place a Switch Control Header in selected frame received so that the frame can be routed to the specific POE to which a destination station is connected, and to update the statistics associated with the frame.
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Specification