Single board routing arrangement
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A routing device comprising:
- a midplane;
a power supply coupled to the midplane to supply power along the midplane;
a plurality of removable interface cards removably coupled to the midplane to communicate packets using a network; and
a router module removably coupled to the midplane separate from the plurality of removable interface cards, the router module comprising a packet forwarding engine, memory, a memory management unit, and an interface card concentrator module wherein the packet forwarding engine, memory management unit, and the interface card concentrator module are integrated into a single unit,wherein the midplane provides power from the power supply to the router module only when the router module is properly inserted into the midplane,wherein the interface card concentrator module receives packets from at least two of the removable interface cards,wherein contents of the received packets are stored in the memory,wherein the memory management unit generates notifications based on keys of the received packets and forwards the notifications to the packet forwarding engine,wherein the packet forwarding engine performs route lookups for the packets based on the keys in response to the notifications, andwherein the interface card concentrator module sends the packets from the memory to the removable interface cards as output bound packets based on the route lookups performed by the packet forwarding engine in response to the notifications.
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Abstract
A network router employs a single board architecture that includes both a forwarding engine and an interface card concentrator. All of the circuits involved in routing are incorporated into a single board, reducing the system cost of the router. A single processor performs various functions in connection with these circuits, such as management of interface cards and the forwarding engine. In addition to lowering the system cost, the compact architecture allows higher density installation of interface cards.
21 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A routing device comprising:
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a midplane; a power supply coupled to the midplane to supply power along the midplane; a plurality of removable interface cards removably coupled to the midplane to communicate packets using a network; and a router module removably coupled to the midplane separate from the plurality of removable interface cards, the router module comprising a packet forwarding engine, memory, a memory management unit, and an interface card concentrator module wherein the packet forwarding engine, memory management unit, and the interface card concentrator module are integrated into a single unit, wherein the midplane provides power from the power supply to the router module only when the router module is properly inserted into the midplane, wherein the interface card concentrator module receives packets from at least two of the removable interface cards, wherein contents of the received packets are stored in the memory, wherein the memory management unit generates notifications based on keys of the received packets and forwards the notifications to the packet forwarding engine, wherein the packet forwarding engine performs route lookups for the packets based on the keys in response to the notifications, and wherein the interface card concentrator module sends the packets from the memory to the removable interface cards as output bound packets based on the route lookups performed by the packet forwarding engine in response to the notifications. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A routing arrangement comprising:
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a crossbar arrangement; and a plurality of routing devices coupled to the crossbar arrangement, at least one routing device comprising; a midplane; a power supply coupled to the midplane to supply power along the midplane; a plurality of removable interface cards removably coupled to the midplane to communicate data packets using a network; and a router module removably coupled to the midplane separate from the plurality of removable interface cards, wherein the midplane provides power to the router module from the power supply, only when the midplane is properly inserted into the midplane, wherein the router module performs route lookups for a first set of the data packets received from the network by a first one of the removable interface cards and for a second set of the data packets received from the network by a second one of the removable interface cards to select routes for the data packets and to forward the data packets between the removable interface cards, wherein the router module comprises a system control module that performs the route lookups, memory, a memory management circuit, and at least one concentrator module that receives the data packets from at least the first one and the second one of the removable interface cards, and wherein the system control module, the memory arrangement circuit, and the concentrator module are integrated into a single unit, wherein the router module receives packets from at least two of the removable interface cards, wherein contents of the received packets are stored in the memory, wherein the memory management circuit generates notifications based on keys of the received packets and forwards the notifications to the system control module, wherein the system control module performs route lookups for the packets based on the keys in response to the notifications, and wherein the concentrator module sends the packets from the memory to the removable interface cards as output bound packets based on the route lookups performed by the system control module in response to the notifications. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A router comprising a midplane, a plurality of interface cards coupled to the midplane, a power supply to provide power along the midplane, and one hardware board integrally housing an interface concentrator that provides electrical interfaces to connect to the midplane to receive incoming packets from the plurality of interface cards via the midplane, a packet processing circuit, memory, a memory management circuit, and a route lookup circuit separate from the interface cards to perform route lookups to select routes for a first packet and a second of the incoming packets received from a network by different ones of the plurality of interface cards
wherein the midplane is configured to provide power to the one hardware board from the power supply, only when the one hardware board is properly connected to the midplane at the electrical interfaces, wherein the interface concentrator receives the data packets from at least two of the interface cards, wherein contents of the received packets are stored in the memory, wherein the memory management circuit generates notifications based on keys of the received data packets and forwards the notifications to the route lookup circuit, wherein the route lookup circuit performs route lookups for the data packets based on the keys in response to the notifications, and wherein the interface concentrator sends the data packets from the memory to the interface cards as output bound packets based on the route lookups performed by the route lookup circuit in response to the notifications.
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36. A method of manufacturing a routing device, the method comprising:
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providing a plurality of interface modules to communicate data packets using a network; coupling a midplane to the plurality of interface modules; coupling a power supply to the midplane; and coupling a single router module to the midplane; wherein the midplane is configured to provide power to the single router module from the power supply, only when the single router module is properly inserted into the midplane, wherein the router module is configured to perform route lookups for data packets received from different ones of the interface modules via the midplane to select routes for the packets in accordance with route information associated with the network and forward the packets back to the interface modules by way of the midplane, and wherein the router module comprises a system control module, memory, a memory management unit, and at least one concentrator module integrated into a single unit separate from the interface modules wherein the concentrator module receives the data packets from at least two of the interface cards, wherein contents of the received data packets are stored in the memory, wherein the memory management circuit generates notifications based on keys of the received data packets and forwards the notifications to the system control module, wherein the system control module performs route lookups for the data packets based on the keys in response to the notifications, and wherein the interface concentrator module sends the data packets from the memory to the interface cards as output bound packets based on the route lookups performed by the system control module in response to the notifications. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of manufacturing a routing arrangement, the method comprising:
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providing a crossbar arrangement; and coupling a plurality of routing devices to the crossbar arrangement, at least one routing device comprising; a midplane; a plurality of interface cards to communicate data packets using a network, wherein each of the plurality of interface cards are coupled to the midplane; a power supply coupled to the midplane to supply power along the midplane; and a router module separate from the plurality of interface cards to process the data packets and to forward the data packets between the interface cards, wherein the router module is coupled to the midplane; wherein the midplane is configured to provide power to the router module from the power supply, only when the router module is properly inserted into the midplane, wherein the router module is configured to perform route lookups for the data packets received from different ones of the interface cards to select routes for the packets in accordance with route information associated with the network, wherein the router module includes a packet processing circuit, memory, a memory management circuit, and a route lookup circuit integrated into a single module, wherein the packet processing circuit receives the data packets from at least two of the interface cards, wherein contents of the received data packets are stored in the memory, wherein the memory management circuit generates notifications based on keys of the received data packets and forwards the notifications to the route lookup circuit, wherein the route lookup circuit performs route lookups for the data packets based on the keys in response to the notifications, and wherein the packet processing circuit sends the data packets from the memory to the interface cards as output bound packets based on the route lookups performed by the route lookup circuit in response to the notifications.
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42. A routing arrangement comprising:
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a plurality of routing devices coupled in a crossbar arrangement, at least one routing device comprising; a midplane; a plurality of interface modules removably coupled to the midplane to communicate data packets using a network; a power supply coupled to the midplane to provide power along the midplane, a router module removably coupled to the midplane to receive the data packets from at least two different ones of the interface modules, wherein the router module is configured to perform route lookups for the data packets received from the at least two interface modules to select routes for the packets in accordance with route information associated with the network; wherein the midplane is configured to provide power to single router module from the power supply, only when the router module is properly inserted into the midplane; and a switch arrangement coupled to the plurality of routing devices and configured to switch control from a first routing device to a second routing device, wherein the router module includes a packet processing circuit, memory, a memory management circuit, and a route lookup circuit integrated into a single module, wherein the packet processing circuit receives the data packets from at least two of the interface cards, wherein contents of the received data packets are stored in the memory, wherein the memory management circuit generates notifications based on keys of the received data packets and forwards the notifications to the route lookup circuit, wherein the route lookup circuit performs route lookups for the data packets based on the keys in response to the notifications, and wherein the packet processing circuit sends the data packets from the memory to the interface cards as output bound packets based on the route lookups performed by the route lookup circuit in response to the notifications. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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Specification