Multi-interface point-to-point switching system (MIPPSS) with hot swappable boards

• US 6,628,648 B1
• Filed: 09/18/1998
• Issued: 09/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Original Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Inventors: Mouch, Neal E., Cocke, Thomas F. IV, Francis, Harry F., Brown, Gair D., Calvert, Gary S. II, Gorder, Timothy Y., Mattoon, Roland H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, PHUC H
• Application Number:
  US09/156,614
• Time in Patent Office: 1,838 Days
• Field of Search: 370/220, 370/231, 370/252, 370/357, 370/359, 370/360, 370/389, 370/395, 370/398, 370/401, 370/466, 370/462, 370/366, 370/355, 370/465, 370/422, 370/468, 370/427, 370/380, 370/388, 359/117, 359/124, 359/128, 359/139
• US Class Current: 370/360
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/561 Star, e.g. cross-connect, concentrator, subscriber group equipment, remote electronics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/101 using crossbar or matrix
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/15 Interconnection of switching modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/253 using establishment or release of connections between ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/30 Peripheral units, e.g. input or output ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/3081 ATM peripheral units, e.g. policing, insertion or extraction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/40 Constructional details, e.g. power supply, mechanical construction or backplane
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/45 Arrangements for providing or supporting expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/455 Provisions for supporting expansion in ATM switches

Abstract

A multi-interface point-to-point switching system, including a plurality of I/O ports coupled to a plurality of respective devices, a switching fabric, 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. According to one aspect of the invention, the switching fabric includes a plurality of discrete switch modules, at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller. According to another aspect of the present invention, 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.

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 signal types 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 permanent, 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;

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

wherein the switching fabric includes a plurality of discrete switch modules, at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller, and

wherein the signal fidelity of the switching fabric is substantially perfect, thereby permitting the different signal types to exhibit substantially the same signal characteristics after passing through the switching fabric as they do before passing through the switching fabric.

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 plurality of discrete switch modules include a local area layer switch module for interconnecting devices within a local area, an intermediate area layer switch module for interconnecting devices within an intermediate area, and a wide area layer switch module 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 switch modules.

5. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the local area layer switch module is hot-swappable with permission of the controller.

6. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the local area layer switch module, and the intermediate area layer switch module are hot-swappable with permission of the controller.

7. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 3, wherein all of the switch modules are hot-swappable with permission of the controller.

8. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the discrete switch modules are distributed throughout the switching fabric, and 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; and

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

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 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 8, wherein the switch modules located in the first switching layer are hot-swappable with permission of the controller.

11. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 8, wherein the switch modules located in the first and second switching layers are hot-swappable with permission of the controller.

12. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 8, wherein all of the switch modules are hot-swappable with permission of the controller.

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 signal types include electrical and optical signals.

16. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric does not interact with any data transfer protocol used by the devices for data communications with one another.

17. 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 signal types, as required, to a common signal format for transmission within the switching fabric;

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

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

18. 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 signal types, 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.

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

a plurality of boards;

a plurality of cages each comprising a plurality of boards;

a plurality of racks each comprising a plurality of cages; and

at least one hub for interconnecting the plurality of racks.

20. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 19, wherein the at least selected ones of the switch modules that are hot-swappable with permission of the controller include at least selected ones of the boards.

21. 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 signal types 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 permanent, 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;

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

wherein the switching fabric includes a plurality of discrete switch modules, at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller, and

wherein a signal transfer delay imparted by the switching fabric to each different signal type 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.

22. 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 signal types 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 permanent, 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;

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

wherein the switching fabric includes a plurality of discrete switch modules, at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller, and

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

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 signal types 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 permanent, 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 for determining the permanent, low latency signal path for each connection and for commanding the switching means to establish the determined signal path for each connection,

wherein the switching means includes a plurality of discrete switch modules, at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

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 plurality of discrete switch modules include a local area layer switch module for interconnecting devices within a local area, an intermediate area layer switch module for interconnecting devices within an intermediate area, and a wide area layer switch module 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 switch modules.

27. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the discrete switch modules are distributed throughout the switching means, and 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; and

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

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

28. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.

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

30. 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.

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

32. 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.

33. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the signal fidelity of the switching means is substantially perfect, thereby permitting the different signal types to exhibit substantially the same signal characteristics after passing through the switching means as they do before passing through the switching means.

34. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein a signal transfer delay imparted by the switching fabric to each different signal type 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.

35. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 25, wherein the local area layer switch module is hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

36. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 25, wherein the local area layer switch module, and the intermediate area layer switch module are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

37. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 28, wherein all of the switch modules are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

38. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 27, wherein the switch modules located in the first switching layer are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

39. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 27, wherein the switch modules located in the first and second switching layers are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

40. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 27, wherein all of the switch modules are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

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

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

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

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

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

an electrical-to-optical converter section that converts at least selected ones of the different signal types, 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.

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

a plurality of boards;

a plurality of cages each comprising a plurality of boards;

a plurality of racks each comprising a plurality of cages; and

at least one hub for interconnecting the plurality of racks.

44. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 43, wherein the at least selected ones of the switch modules that are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means include at least selected ones of the boards.

45. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein at least one of the different signal types is a parallel interface format signal and at least one of the different signal types is a serial interface format signal.

46. 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 signal types 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 permanent, 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 permanent, low latency signal path for each connection and commands the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection,

wherein the switching fabric has a scalable architecture and includes a plurality of distributed switching components at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller, and

wherein the signal fidelity of the switching fabric is substantially perfect, thereby permitting the different signal types to exhibit substantially the same signal characteristics after passing through the switching fabric as they do before passing through the switching fabric.

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

48. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 46, wherein the controller determines the duration of each connection.

49. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 46, wherein the controller determines the duration of each connection independent of the data content of the signal delivered via that connection.

50. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 46, wherein the different signal types include electrical and optical signals.

51. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 46, wherein the switching fabric does not interact with any data transfer protocol used by the devices for data communications with one another.

52. 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 signal types 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 permanent, 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 permanent, low latency signal path for each connection and commands the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection,

wherein the switching fabric has a scalable architecture and includes a plurality of distributed switching components at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller, and

wherein a signal transfer delay imparted by the switching fabric to each different signal type 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.

53. 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 signal types 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 permanent, 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 for determining the permanent, low latency signal path for each connection and for commanding the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection,

wherein the switching means has a scalable architecture and includes a plurality of distributed switching components at least selected ones of which are hot-swappable with permission of the controller means.

54. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 53, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching components.

55. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 53, wherein the controller means determines the duration of each connection.

56. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 53, wherein the controller means determines the duration of each connection independent of the data content of the signal delivered via that connection.

57. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 53, wherein the different signal types include electrical and optical signals.

58. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 53, wherein the switching means does not interact with any data transfer protocol used by the devices for data communications with one another.

59. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 53, wherein the signal fidelity of the switching means is substantially perfect, thereby permitting the different signal types to exhibit substantially the same signal characteristics after passing through the switching means as they do before passing through the switching means.

60. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 53, wherein a signal transfer delay imparted by the switching means to each different signal type 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.