Multi-interface point-to-point switching system (MIPPSS) with rapid fault recovery capability
First Claim
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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;
a controller that determines the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and configures the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection; and
a non-volatile memory which stores switch configuration data indicative of a current configuration of the switching fabric 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.
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Abstract
A combination delivering signals between a plurality of devices includes a mixed-layer switching fabric, and a controller which controls the mixed-layer switching fabric. According to the present invention, the controller includes a first device for automatically performing fault recognition and fault isolation routines when the multi-interface switching system is initialized and periodically thereafter, and a second device for performing the fault recognition and fault isolation routines on demand. Moreover, the mixed-layer switching fabric further includes a computer controlled switch which establishes one of point-to-point connections and point-to-multipoint connections under the control of the controller, the computer controlled switch comprising a non-volatile memory which stores switch configuration data indicative of a current configuration of the switching fabric 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.
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Citations
101 Claims
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1. A multi-interface switching system, including:
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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;
a controller that determines the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and configures the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection; and
a non-volatile memory which stores switch configuration data indicative of a current configuration of the switching fabric 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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.
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8. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 7, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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9. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 7, further including means for verifying the viability of each determined connection before it is established.
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10. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 9, wherein the controller does not establish any connections that have not been verified.
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11. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 9, 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.
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12. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the controller comprises:
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first means for automatically performing fault recognition and fault isolation routines when the multi-interface switching system is initialized and periodically thereafter; and
second means for performing said fault recognition and fault isolation routines on demand.
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13. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the switching fabric includes a plurality of different switching layers, and the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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14. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the different signals include electrical and optical signals.
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15. 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 that they exhibit prior to passing through the switching fabric.
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16. A multi-interface switching system, including:
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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
means for storing switch configuration data indicative of a current configuration of the switching fabric 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. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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.
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24. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 23, wherein the switch configuration data includes data indicative of a current configuration of each of the switching layers.
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25. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 24, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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26. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 16, wherein the switching fabric 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 different levels of switching components.
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27. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 26, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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28. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 27, wherein the controller is a programmable controller.
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29. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 16, wherein the switching fabric includes a plurality of different switching layers, and the switch configuration data includes data indicative of a current configuration of each of the different switching layers.
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30. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 29, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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31. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 30, wherein the controller is a programmable controller.
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32. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 16, wherein the controller comprises:
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first means for automatically performing fault recognition and fault isolation routines when the multi-interface switching system is initialized and periodically thereafter; and
second means for performing said fault recognition and fault isolation routines on demand.
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33. A multi-interface switching system, including:
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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 and the switching fabric does not interact with any data transfer protocol used by the devices for data communications with one another, whereby the switching fabric operates in a content independent manner and 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;
a controller that determines the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and generates switch configuration data by which the switching fabric establishes the determined signal path for each connection; and
a non-volatile memory which stores the switch configuration data indicative of a current configuration of the switching fabric 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. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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, wherein the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.
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40. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 39, wherein the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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41. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 39, further including means for verifying the viability of each determined connection before it is established.
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42. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 41, wherein the controller does not establish any connections that have not been verified.
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43. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 41, 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.
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44. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 33, wherein the controller is a programmable controller.
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45. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 33, wherein the switching fabric includes a plurality of different switching layers, and the controller provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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46. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 33, wherein the different signals include electrical and optical signals.
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47. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 33, 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 that they exhibit prior to passing through the switching fabric.
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48. A multi-interface switching system, including:
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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;
controller means for determining the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and for configuring the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection; and
memory means for storing 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. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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.
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55. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 54, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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56. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 54, further including means for verifying the viability of each determined connection before it is established.
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57. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 56, wherein the controller means does not establish any connections that have not been verified.
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58. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 56, 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.
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59. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 48, wherein the controller means comprises:
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first means for automatically performing fault recognition and fault isolation routines when the multi-interface switching system is initialized and periodically thereafter; and
second means for performing said fault recognition and fault isolation routines on demand.
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60. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 48, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of different switching layers, and the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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61. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 48, wherein the different signals include electrical and optical signals.
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62. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 48, 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 that they exhibit prior to passing through the switching means.
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63. A multi-interface switching system, including:
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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
means for storing 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. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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, wherein the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.
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71. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 70, wherein the switch configuration data includes data indicative of a current configuration of each of the switching layers.
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72. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 71, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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73. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 72, wherein the controller means comprises:
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first means for automatically performing fault recognition and fault isolation routines when the multi-interface switching system is initialized and periodically thereafter; and
second means for performing said fault recognition and fault isolation routines on demand.
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74. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 73, wherein the controller is a programmable controller.
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75. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 63, 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 different levels of switching components.
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76. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 75, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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77. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 63, 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 different switching layers.
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78. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 77, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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79. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 78, wherein the controller means comprises a programmable controller.
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80. A multi-interface switching system, including:
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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 and the switching means does not interact with any data transfer protocol used by the devices for data communications with one another, whereby the switching means operates in a content independent manner and 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;
controller means for determining the fixed, low latency signal path for each connection and for configuring the switching fabric to establish the determined signal path for each connection; and
means for storing 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. - View Dependent Claims (81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94)
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, wherein the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.
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87. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 86, wherein the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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88. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 86, further including means for verifying the viability of each determined connection before it is established.
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89. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 88, wherein the controller means does not establish any connections that have not been verified.
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90. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 80, wherein the controller means comprises:
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first means for automatically performing fault recognition and fault isolation routines when the multi-interface switching system is initialized and periodically thereafter; and
second means for performing said fault recognition and fault isolation routines on demand.
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91. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 80, wherein the switching means includes a plurality of different switching layers, and the controller means provides unified control over the switching operation of all of the different switching layers.
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92. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 91, 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.
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93. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 80, wherein the different signals include electrical and optical signals.
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94. The multi-interface switching system as set forth in claim 80, 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 that they exhibit prior to passing through the switching means.
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95. A combination delivering signals between a plurality of devices, comprising:
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a mixed-layer switching fabric, wherein said mixed-layer switching fabric comprises;
a converter section that converts all of the signals, as required, to a common signal format for transmission within the switching fabric;
a re-converter section that re-converts all of the signals from the common signal format back to their original signal format to generate re-converted signals; and
an output section that delivers the re-converted signals to respective ones of a plurality of ports associated with a respective one of the devices; and
a computer controlled switch which establishes one of point-to-point connections and point-to-multipoint connections under the control of said controller, said computer controlled switch comprising a non-volatile memory which stores switch configuration data indicative of a current configuration of the switching fabric 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; and
a controller which controls and fault isolates said mixed-layer switching fabric. - View Dependent Claims (96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101)
the devices connected by said mixed-layer switching fabric are geographically dispersed devices;
said mixed-layer switching fabric includes;
first means for interconnecting first ones of the devices which are separated from one another by less than a first distance;
second means for interconnecting second ones of the devices which are separated from one another by less than a second distance; and
third means for interconnecting third ones of the devices which are separated from one another by less than a third distance; and
the third distance is greater than the second distance, and the second distance is greater than the first distance.
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99. The combination as set forth in claim 95, wherein said controller determines the duration of each connection within said mixed-layer switching fabric.
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100. The combination as set forth in claim 95, wherein said mixed-layer switching fabric establishes at least one of a point-to-point and a point-to-multipoint connection responsive to control signals generated by said controller.
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101. The combination as set forth in claim 95, wherein the controller comprises:
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first means for automatically performing fault recognition and fault isolation routines when the multi-interface switching system is initialized and periodically thereafter; and
second means for performing said fault recognition and fault isolation routines on demand.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeThe United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture
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Original Assigneethe united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
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InventorsCocke, Thomas F. IV, Francis, Harry F., Brown, Gair D., Calvert, Gary S. II, Moody, Neal E., Gorder, Timothy Y., Mattoon, Roland H.
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Primary Examiner(s)Pham, Chi
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Assistant Examiner(s)Boakye, Alexander O.
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Application NumberUS09/157,002Time in Patent Office1,943 DaysField of Search370/365, 370/466, 370/467, 370/216, 370/242, 370/217, 370/380, 370/370, 370/388, 370/360, 370/359, 370/371, 370/400, 370/387, 370/427, 370/363, 370/254, 370/401, 370/358, 370/338, 370/219, 370/244, 370/220, 370/245, 370/357, 714/6US Class Current370/380CPC Class CodesH04L 49/101 using crossbar or matrix
