Switching frame and router cluster

• US 8,743,733 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2010
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Zang, Dajun, Yang, Lu, Yang, Dongcheng, Fan, Lingqiang, Gai, Gang, Zhou, Da, Pu, Zhengjie, Du, Wenhua
• Primary Examiner(s): Rinehart, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): Crompton, Christopher R
• Application Number:
  US12/691,341
• Publication Number:
  US 20100118867A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,594 Days
• Field of Search: 370/254
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/56 Packet switching systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/583 Stackable routers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/1515 Non-blocking multistage, e.g. Clos
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/45 Arrangements for providing or supporting expansion

Abstract

A switching chassis includes more than one cascade unit and more than one switching unit, where: the cascade units have cascade interfaces to connect line processing chassis; the switching units have switching ports to connect the cascade interfaces; and any cascade interface of any cascade unit is connected to one switching port of any switching unit. A router cluster with the above switching chassis includes switching chassis and line processing chassis interconnected via optical fibers, where: any optical interface of any line processing chassis is connected to one cascade interface of any cascade unit; and any cascade interface of any cascade unit is connected to one switching port of any switching unit. With the present invention, the capacity of a router cluster can be expanded without the need to replace any component of the router cluster so that the expansion cost is lower.

Claims

1. A switching chassis, comprising a plurality of cascade units and a plurality of switching units, wherein:

each of the plurality of cascade units has a plurality of cascade interfaces connecting to a plurality of line processing chassis, wherein the switching chassis and the line processing chassis are physically separate;

each line processing chassis has a plurality of optical interfaces;

each optical interface of each line processing chassis connects to only one cascade interface of one cascade unit and each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to only one optical interface of one line processing chassis;

each of the plurality of switching units has a plurality of switching ports connecting to the plurality of the cascade interfaces; and

each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to one switching port of each of the plurality of the switching units,

wherein each switching port is only connected to one cascade interface,

wherein the number of the plurality of cascade units is M, which equals 2j, where j is an integer greater than 0, and

wherein each of the plurality of switching units has M×

N switching ports, where N equals 2i and i is an integer greater than 0.

2. The switching chassis of claim 1, wherein each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to one switching port of each of the plurality of the switching units in orthogonal mode.

3. The switching chassis of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of cascade units has N cascade interfaces.

4. A router cluster, comprising a switching chassis and a plurality of line processing chassis that are interconnected via optical fibers, wherein:

the switching chassis comprises a plurality of cascade units and a plurality of switching units;

each of the plurality of cascade units has a plurality of cascade interfaces connecting to the plurality of line processing chassis, wherein the switching chassis and the line processing chassis are physically separate;

each line processing chassis has a plurality of optical interfaces;

each optical interface of each line processing chassis connects to only one cascade interface of one cascade unit and each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to only one optical interface of one line processing chassis;

each of the plurality of switching units has a plurality of switching ports connecting to the plurality of the cascade interfaces; and

each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to one switching port of each of the plurality of the switching units,

wherein each switching port is only connected to one cascade interface,

wherein the number of the plurality of cascade units is M, which equals 2j, where j is an integer greater than 0, and

wherein each of the plurality of switching units has M×

N switching ports, where N equals 2i and i is an integer greater than 0.

5. The router cluster of claim 4, wherein each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to one switching port of each of the plurality of the switching units in orthogonal mode.

6. The router cluster of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of cascade units has N cascade interfaces, where N equals 2i and i is an integer above 0.

7. A switching chassis, comprising a plurality of cascade units and a plurality of switching units, wherein:

each of the plurality of cascade units has a plurality of cascade interfaces connecting to a plurality of line processing chassis, wherein the switching chassis and the line processing chassis are physically separate;

each of the plurality of switching units has a plurality of switching ports connecting to the plurality of the cascade interfaces; and

each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to one switching port of each of the plurality of the switching units,

wherein each switching port is only connected to one cascade interface,

wherein the number of the plurality of cascade units is M, which equals 2j, where j is an integer greater than 0, and

wherein each of the plurality of switching units has M×

N switching ports, where N equals 2i and i is an integer greater than 0.

8. The switching chassis of claim 7, wherein each cascade interface of each cascade unit connects to one switching port of each of the plurality of the switching units in orthogonal mode.

9. The switching chassis of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of cascade units has N cascade interfaces, where N equals 2i and i is an integer above 0.