Multi-interface point-to-point switching system (MIPPSS) under unified control

• US 6,526,048 B1
• Filed: 09/18/1998
• Issued: 02/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture
• Original Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Inventors: Moore, Neal E., Cocke, Thomas F. IV, Francis, Harry F., Calvert, Gary S. II, Gorder, Timothy Y., Mattoon, Roland H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Kwang Bin
• Application Number:
  US09/157,299
• Time in Patent Office: 1,621 Days
• Field of Search: 370/357, 370/360, 370/366, 370/367, 370/386, 370/387, 370/388, 370/395.2, 370/422, 370/423, 370/424, 370/466, 370/380, 370/381, 370/382, 370/383, 370/384, 370/385
• US Class Current: 370/380
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/101 using crossbar or matrix

Abstract

A multi-interface point-to-point switching system includes a plurality of I/O devices coupled to a plurality of respective devices, a switching device for selectively delivering each of a plurality of different signals from a selected one of the I/O devices coupled to a sending one of the devices to another selected one of the I/O devices coupled to a receiving one of the devices, to thereby establish respective connections between the sending and receiving devices, wherein the switching device provides a fixed, low latency signal path for each connection between a sending and receiving device for the duration of that connection, whereby the latency of that connection is deterministic and predictable, and a data content of the signal delivered via that connection is not analyzed by the switching device, whereby the switching device operates in a content independent manner, and controller device that determines the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and commands the switching device to establish the determined signal path for each connection. According to the present invention, at least one of the different signals is a parallel interface format signal and at least one of the different signals is a serial interface format signal.

Claims

1. A multi-interface switching system, including:

a plurality of I/O ports coupled to a plurality of respective devices;

a switching fabric that selectively delivers each of a plurality of different signals from a selected one of the I/O ports coupled to a sending one of the devices to another selected one of the I/O ports coupled to a receiving one of the devices, to thereby establish respective connections between the sending and receiving devices, wherein the switching fabric provides a fixed, low latency signal path for each connection between a sending and receiving device for the duration of that connection, whereby the latency of that connection is deterministic and predictable, and a data content of the signal delivered via that connection is not analyzed by the switching fabric, whereby the switching fabric operates in a content independent manner; and

a controller that determines the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and commands the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection; and

wherein at least one of the different signals is a parallel interface format signal and at least one of the different signals is a serial interface format signal.

2. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the controller is a programmable controller.

3. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric includes a plurality of different switching components, including a local area layer switching component for interconnecting devices within a local area, an intermediate area layer switching component for interconnecting devices within an intermediate area, and a wide area layer switching component for interconnecting devices within a wide area.

4. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching components.

5. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 4, wherein the controller is a programmable controller.

6. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the controller determines the duration of each connection independent of the data content of the signal delivered via that connection.

7. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 6, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching components.

8. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric includes:

a first switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a first distance;

a second switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a second distance;

a third switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a third distance; and

wherein the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.

9. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.

10. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 9, wherein the controller is a programmable controller.

11. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the controller determines the duration of each connection independent of the data content of the signal delivered via that connection.

12. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 11, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.

13. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the controller determines the duration of each connection.

14. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the controller determines the duration of each connection independent of the data content of the signal delivered via that connection.

15. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the different signals include electrical and optical signals.

16. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the different signals include TTL and ECL signals.

17. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric comprises a data transfer protocol insensitive switching fabric.

18. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the signal fidelity of the switching fabric is substantially perfect, so that the different signals exhibit substantially the same signal characteristics after passing through the switching fabric as they do before passing through the switching fabric.

19. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein a signal transfer delay imparted by the switching fabric to each different signal is substantially equal to an inherent delay associated with a direct-wired point-to-point connection between the respective sending and receiving devices associated with that signal.

20. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric includes:

a converter section that converts all of the different signals, as required, to a common signal format for transmission within the switching fabric;

a re-converter section that re-converts all of the different signals from the common signal format back to their original signal format to generate re-converted different signals; and

an output section that delivers the re-converted different signals to respective ones of the I/O ports.

21. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric includes:

an electrical-to-optical converter section that converts at least selected ones of the different signals, as required, into optical signals for passage through at least a portion of the switching fabric; and

an optical-to-electrical signal converter section that converts the optical signals generated by the electrical-to-optical signal converter section back to electrical signals prior to being outputted from the switching fabric.

22. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric comprises a data transfer protocol insensitive switching fabric, and wherein said different signals are Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) digital signals.

23. A multi-interface switching system, including:

a plurality of I/O means coupled to a plurality of respective devices;

switching means for selectively delivering each of a plurality of different signals from a selected one of the I/O means coupled to a sending one of the devices to another selected one of the I/O means coupled to a receiving one of the devices, to thereby establish respective connections between the sending and receiving devices, wherein the switching means provides a fixed, low latency signal path for each connection between a sending and receiving device for the duration of that connection, whereby the latency of that connection is deterministic and predictable, and a data content of the signal delivered via that connection is not analyzed by the switching means, whereby the switching means operates in a content independent manner; and

controller means that determines the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and commands the switching means to establish the determined signal path for each connection,

wherein at least one of the different signals is a parallel interface format signal and at least one of the different signals is a serial interface format signal.

24. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the controller means comprises a programmable controller.

25. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of different switching components, including a local area layer switching component for interconnecting devices within a local area, an intermediate area layer switching component for interconnecting devices within an intermediate area, and a wide area layer switching component for interconnecting devices within a wide area.

26. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 25, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching components.

27. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 26, wherein the controller means comprises a programmable controller.

28. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the switching means includes:

a first switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a first distance;

a second switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a second distance;

a third switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a third distance; and

wherein the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.

29. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 28, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.

30. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 29, wherein the controller means comprises a programmable controller.

31. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the controller means determines the duration of each connection.

32. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the controller means determines the duration of each connection independent of the data content of the signal delivered via that connection.

33. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the different signals include electrical and optical signals.

34. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the different signals include TTL and ECL signals.

35. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the switching means does not interact with any data transfer protocol used by the devices for data communications with one another.

36. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the signal fidelity of the switching means is substantially perfect, so that the different signals exhibit substantially the same signal characteristics after passing through the switching means as they do before passing through the switching means.

37. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein a signal transfer delay imparted by the switching means to each different signal is substantially equal to an inherent delay associated with a direct-wired point-to-point connection between the respective sending and receiving devices associated with that signal.

38. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the switching means includes:

a conversion means for converting all of the different signals, as required, to a common signal format for transmission within the switching means;

a re-conversion means for re-converting all of the different signals from the common signal format back to their original signal format to generate re-converted different signals; and

an output means that delivers the re-converted different signals to respective ones of the I/O means.

39. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 36, wherein the switching means includes:

an electrical-to-optical conversion means for converting at least selected ones of the different signals, as required, into optical signals for passage through at least a portion of the switching means; and

an optical-to-electrical signal conversion means for converting the optical signals generated by the electrical-to-optical signal conversion means back to electrical signals prior to being outputted from the switching means.

40. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the controller means stores switch configuration data indicative of a current configuration of the switching means to thereby facilitate fail-safe operation of the switching system without requiring re-initialization or re-configuration of the switching system upon power-up of the switching system following an occurrence of a power-down condition of the switching system.

41. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of different levels of switching components, and the controller means provides unified control over the operation of all of the different levels of switching components.

42. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of different switching layers, and the controller means provides unified control over the operation of all of the different switching layers.

43. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the switch configuration data includes switch setting data that defines the determined signal path for each current connection.

44. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the controller means determines the duration of each connection, and the switch configuration data includes switch setting data that defines the determined signal path for each current connection, and connection duration data that defines the determined duration for each current connection.

45. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the controller means automatically saves the switch configuration data upon detection of a power-down condition of the switching system.

46. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the switching means includes:

a first switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a first distance;

a second switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a second distance;

a third switching layer that interconnects devices separated from one another by less than a third distance; and

wherein the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.

47. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 46, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.

48. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of different levels of switching components, and the switch configuration data includes data indicative of a current configuration of each of the levels of switching components.

49. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of different switching layers, and the switch configuration data includes data indicative of a current configuration of each of the switching layers.

50. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 40, further including means for verifying the viability of each determined connection before it is established.

51. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 50, wherein the controller means does not establish any connections that have not been verified.