Network device including central and distributed switch fabric subsystems
First Claim
1. A network device comprising:
- at least one central switch fabric subsystem; and
at least one distributed switch fabric subsystem located on a forwarding card coupled to said central switch fabric subsystem and capable of transferring network data packets with said central switch fabric subsystem;
wherein said central switch fabric subsystem comprises;
a central controller subsystem located on a first switch fabric card; and
a central data transfer subsystem coupled with said central controller subsystem,wherein a portion of said central data transfer subsystem is located on a second switch fabric card;
wherein said distributed switch fabric subsystem comprises;
a distributed fabric data transfer subsystem; and
a distributed controller subsystem coupled with said distributed data transfer subsystem for controlling network data transfer through the distributed data transfer subsystem.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention reduces the cost of a minimally configured network device by providing a network device with a distributed switch fabric. Such a network device locates a portion of the switch fabric functionality on each forwarding card allowing the minimal network device configuration to include less than the entire switch fabric functionality. The cost of the minimal configuration is, therefore, reduced allowing network service providers to more quickly recover the initial cost of the network device. As new services are requested, additional functionality, including both forwarding cards and universal port cards may be added to the network device to handle the new requests, and the fees for the new services may be applied to the cost of the additional functionality. Consequently, the cost of the network device more closely tracks the service fees received by network providers.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A network device comprising:
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at least one central switch fabric subsystem; and at least one distributed switch fabric subsystem located on a forwarding card coupled to said central switch fabric subsystem and capable of transferring network data packets with said central switch fabric subsystem; wherein said central switch fabric subsystem comprises; a central controller subsystem located on a first switch fabric card; and a central data transfer subsystem coupled with said central controller subsystem, wherein a portion of said central data transfer subsystem is located on a second switch fabric card; wherein said distributed switch fabric subsystem comprises; a distributed fabric data transfer subsystem; and a distributed controller subsystem coupled with said distributed data transfer subsystem for controlling network data transfer through the distributed data transfer subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A network device, comprising:
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a central switch fabric subsystem; and a plurality of distributed switch fabric subsystems located on a forwarding card coupled to the central switch fabric subsystem, wherein each of the plurality of distributed switch fabric subsystems is capable of transferring network packet data with each of the plurality of distributed switch fabric subsystems through the central switch fabric subsystem and wherein said central switch fabric subsystem comprises; a central controller subsystem located on a first switch fabric card; and a central data transfer subsystem coupled with said central controller subsystem, wherein a portion of said central data transfer subsystem is located on a second switch fabric card; wherein at least one of said distributed switch fabric subsystem comprises; a distributed data transfer subsystem comprising a data slice component, and a distributed controller subsystem coupled with the distributed data transfer subsystem for controlling network data transfer through the distributed data transfer subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A network device, comprising:
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a plurality of switch fabric cards comprising a central switch fabric subsystem; a plurality of forwarding cards coupled with the switch fabric cards, each forwarding card comprising a switch fabric interface and a distributed switch fabric subsystem; and at least one distributed switch fabric subsystem coupled to said central switch fabric subsystem and capable of transferring network data packets with said central switch fabric subsystem; wherein said central switch fabric subsystem comprises; a central controller subsystem located on a first switch fabric card; and a central data transfer subsystem coupled with said central controller subsystem, wherein a portion of said central data transfer subsystem is located on a second switch fabric card; wherein said at least one distributed switch fabric subsystem comprises; a distributed data transfer subsystem; and a distributed controller subsystem coupled with said distributed data transfer subsystem for controlling network data transfer through the distributed data transfer subsystem; wherein each of the forwarding cards is capable of transmitting network packet data to another forward card through its switch fabric interface and via said central and distributed switch fabric subsystems. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification