Ethernet based TDM switch

• US 6,999,450 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2001
• Issued: 02/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Calix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Occam Networks Incorporated (Calix Incorporated)
• Inventors: Rumer, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Jung, Min
• Application Number:
  US09/842,559
• Publication Number:
  US 20020159438A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,756 Days
• Field of Search: 370/466, 370/474, 370/476, 370/445, 370/401, 370/356
• US Class Current: 370/356
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/3009 Header conversion, routing tables or routing tags
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/324 in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method and apparatus for packetizing data framed as a TDM stream as an Ethernet packet. In an embodiment, the data is packetized into an Ethernet frame having a header which includes information which indicates an appropriate time at which to write the data into an outbound TDM stream.

Claims

1. A method, comprising packetizing, in a switch having an Ethernet backplane, a TDM frame from an inbound TDM data stream as an Ethernet packet by writing the TDM frame into a payload field of the Ethernet packet and writing (1) a destination of the TDM frame, and (2) information identifying which block of the TDM stream the TDM frame written into the payload field originated from into a destination field of the Ethernet packet.