Network packet transmission mechanism
DCFirst Claim
1. A network for transporting packets of data comprising:
- a plurality of interconnected routing switches each having one or more unique transport identification which reflects network topology;
each routing switch performing a different function based on said routing switch operating as an entry, exit, pass-through, or intermediate routing switch;
wherein said entry routing switch functions to embed destination transport identification in each data packet; and
wherein said intermediate routing switch is operable for comparing said destination identification with the routing switch unique transport identification and forwarding said packet of data based on said comparison without performing a table look-up.
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Abstract
An architecture, system and method are provided for efficiently transferring packets of data across a communication network. Portions of the communication network is structured such that there are hierarchical levels of high speed Routing Switches existing throughout the network. Distributed routing of packets is achieved by comparing identification numbers of Routing Switches with the destination address of a data packet. Once routing is achieved within the transport ID based network, transfer to a destination termination device occurs through a single look-up table only when departing the network. The routing operation between termination devices can therefore be achieved using a single mapping operation and is backward compatible with devices external to the network and protocols used by those devices. Each Routing Switch thereby serves as a traffic manager, having registers that are configured so as to allow the traffic manager to direct packets of data from an input port to an output port in the quickest, most efficient manner without having to decode the entire destination address or requiring time-consumptive routing tables.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A network for transporting packets of data comprising:
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a plurality of interconnected routing switches each having one or more unique transport identification which reflects network topology; each routing switch performing a different function based on said routing switch operating as an entry, exit, pass-through, or intermediate routing switch; wherein said entry routing switch functions to embed destination transport identification in each data packet; and wherein said intermediate routing switch is operable for comparing said destination identification with the routing switch unique transport identification and forwarding said packet of data based on said comparison without performing a table look-up. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of transporting data packets across a network comprising:
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embedding a destination transport identification to a data packet when the data packet enters the network; connecting a plurality of routing switches within the network with the routing switches grouped into two or more groups within the network based on network topology; assigning a unique transport identification number to each routing switch indicative, at least in part, of the network topology; comparing the destination transport identification of a packet with the transport identification of a routing switch; and forwarding the data packet through the network based on said comparison of destination transport identification. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A communication network, comprising:
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first and second sets of routing switches wherein the first set of routing switches receives data traversing the network having network topology-based transport identification before the second set of routing switches receives the data; a unique transport identification number in memory attributed to each of the routing switches, wherein each of said transport identification numbers contains network topology information, said transport identification numbers being divided into a first and second field of bits which identify respective said first and second sets of routing switches; one or more decoders within the first set of routing switches operable to compare a portion of the destination network topology-based transport identification of said data with said first field to determine next hop routing for said data; and one or more decoders within the second set of routing switches operable to compare the destination network topology-based transport identification of said data with said second field after a first set decoder has compared the network topology-based transport identification with said first field. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of structuring an unstructured network comprising:
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providing a plurality of routing switches within the network, each having at least one transport ID, wherein the transport ID is a unique number that is independent of MAC and IP network addressing schemes and is based, in part, on network topology; grouping the routing switches into groups based on hierarchical position within the network; determining the destination transport ID of a routing switch having an attached destination device; attaching said destination transport ID to each packet directed to said destination device; and passing data packets over the network, including the step of forwarding the data packets to said destination device based on comparison of said destination transport ID with said transport ID of said routing switch. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A network for transporting packets of data, each having a destination identification, comprising:
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a plurality of interconnected routing switches each having at least one assigned unique transport identification; the transport identification reflecting the structure and topology of the network; wherein said transport identification assigned to a routing switch is indicative of the position of the routing switch in the network; and said routing switches being operable for comparing a data packet destination identification with the routing switch transport identification and operable for forwarding said data packet based on said comparison without requiring a table lookup. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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Specification