Replication of multicast data packets in a multi-stage switching system
First Claim
1. A multi-stage switch comprising:
- at least one ingress switching module to receive data packets, to switch the data packets, to generate frames from the switched data packets, and to form wavelength division multiplexed signals from the frames, wherein said at least one ingress switch module comprises at least one ingress queuing engine operatively connected to transmit the data packets to at least one crossbar switch plane, which is operatively connected to switch the data packets to at least one ingress crossbar data element, wherein data transfer is controlled by an ingress scheduler, wherein said at least one ingress switch module further includes a multicast lookup table, the multicast lookup table used to identify egress switching modules associated with a multicast data packet, wherein the multicast lookup table is also used to determine type of replication associated with the multicast data packet, wherein multicast data packets are assigned a multicast identification, and wherein the multicast lookup table identifies the associated egress switching modules and the type of replication to be used based on the multicast identification;
a core switching module operatively connected to receive the wavelength division multiplexed signals from the at least one ingress switching module and to switch the wavelength division multiplexed signals; and
at least one egress switching module to receive the wavelength division multiplexed signals from the core switching module, to extract the frames from the wavelength division multiplexed signals, to extract the data packets from the frames, to switch the data packets, and transmit the data packets,wherein said at least one ingress switching module and said at least one egress switching module are capable of replicating multicast data packets.
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Abstract
In general, in one aspect, the disclosure describes a multi-stage switch having at least one ingress switch module to receive data and to generate frames that are transmitted as a wavelength division multiplexed signal. The multi-stage switch further includes a core switch module operatively connected to receive the wavelength division multiplexed signal from the at least one ingress switch module and to switch the frames. The multi-stage switch additionally includes at least one egress switch module to receive the wavelength division multiplexed signal from the core switch module and to transmit data. The at least one ingress switching module and the at least one egress switching module are capable of replicating multicast data packets.
71 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A multi-stage switch comprising:
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at least one ingress switching module to receive data packets, to switch the data packets, to generate frames from the switched data packets, and to form wavelength division multiplexed signals from the frames, wherein said at least one ingress switch module comprises at least one ingress queuing engine operatively connected to transmit the data packets to at least one crossbar switch plane, which is operatively connected to switch the data packets to at least one ingress crossbar data element, wherein data transfer is controlled by an ingress scheduler, wherein said at least one ingress switch module further includes a multicast lookup table, the multicast lookup table used to identify egress switching modules associated with a multicast data packet, wherein the multicast lookup table is also used to determine type of replication associated with the multicast data packet, wherein multicast data packets are assigned a multicast identification, and wherein the multicast lookup table identifies the associated egress switching modules and the type of replication to be used based on the multicast identification; a core switching module operatively connected to receive the wavelength division multiplexed signals from the at least one ingress switching module and to switch the wavelength division multiplexed signals; and at least one egress switching module to receive the wavelength division multiplexed signals from the core switching module, to extract the frames from the wavelength division multiplexed signals, to extract the data packets from the frames, to switch the data packets, and transmit the data packets, wherein said at least one ingress switching module and said at least one egress switching module are capable of replicating multicast data packets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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receiving data packets at a multistage switch, wherein the multistage switch includes a plurality of ingress switching modules, a core switching module operationally connected to the plurality of ingress switching modules, and a plurality of egress switching modules operationally connected to the core switch module, and wherein the data packets received by the ingress switch modules may include multicast packets that are destined for at least two destinations; for multicast packets, utilizing a multicast lookup table within the ingress switching modules to identify which egress switching modules a multicast data packet is destined for and what type of replication should be used based on a multicast identification assigned to the multicast data packet, replicating the multicast packet for the at least two destinations, wherein said replicating can be distributed between receiving ingress switching module and egress switching modules associated with the at least two destinations; within the ingress switching modules, switching the data packets, aggregating the data packets destined for different egress switching module into frames, generating wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical signals from the frames, and transmitting the WDM optical signals to the core switching module; switching the WDM optical signals through the core switch module via multiple channels; within the egress switching modules, receiving the WDM optical signals, extracting frames from the WDM optical signals, extracting the data packets from the frames, switching the data packets, and transmitting the data packets to destinations. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification