Protocol-to-protocol translator for interfacing disparate serial network nodes to a common parallel switching network
First Claim
1. A protocol to protocol translator comprising:
- serial receiving means for receiving a complete serial data message transmitted serially under a serial protocol from a node coupled to the translator;
a storage device including translation data corresponding to the serial protocol, the translation data including data useful for decoding data fields of the complete serial data message;
serial translation means coupled to the serial receiving means and to the storage device for translating the complete serial data message from the serial protocol into a parallel protocol in response to the translation data and for storing into a send buffer a translated complete parallel data message, the serial translation means including means for inserting into the translated complete parallel data message preselected header information used by a switch network for routing the translated complete parallel data message, the parallel protocol including an N bit wide parallel format where N is a positive integer greater than one;
parallel sending means coupled to the send buffer for sending a stored complete data message in the parallel protocol to a coupled input port of the switch network, the coupled input port comprising N parallel data paths for receiving an N bit wide parallel data message; and
a switch network, comprising;
a plurality of bufferless switching apparatus cascaded into a plurality of stages, said switching apparatus each including a plurality of switch inputs and a plurality of switch outputs, of the switch outputs included on each of said switching apparatus each coupled to a different one of the switching apparatus via a switch input of said different one of the switching apparatus, switch outputs of last stage switching apparatus each comprising a network output port and switch inputs of first stage switching apparatus each comprising a network input port;
the network output ports each coupled to a network input port through one of a plurality of nodes, each of said nodes comprising means for receiving a data message from a coupled network output port and means for sending a data message to a coupled network input port, said data message to a coupled network input port including a path connection request; and
said switching apparatus each further comprisingconnection means for establishing a point-to-point communication path between any one of the network input ports and any one of the network output ports in response to said connection request received at said any one of the network input ports, said communication path for transmitting a data message received at said any one of the network input ports to said any one of the network output ports,said connection means including asynchronous connection means for establishing asynchronously a plurality of simultaneously active point-to-point communication paths between a plurality of network input ports and a plurality of network output ports in response to a plurality of connection requests received separately or simultaneously at said plurality of network input ports, said simultaneously active communication paths for transmitting concurrently a plurality of data messages received separately or simultaneously at said plurality of network input ports to said plurality of network output ports.
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Abstract
A generic network device includes a serial line switching apparatus for performing either parallel or serial communications amongst multiple nodes over switching networks. An aspect includes the adaptation of standard and proprietary serial interfaces using either optical or electrical transmission media to interface to a parallel switch. The converted serial data is routed to the selected destination through the parallel switch network, where it is received and converted back into a serial optical or electrical interface/protocol. Thus, the combination of the switching adapter and an ALLNODE parallel switching network make it feasible for serial message data to be switched and routed to various destinations. Further flexibility is provided which permits the switching adapter to be personalized to support any one of a number of standard and proprietary serial protocols. A personalization PROM specifies the particular serial protocol that each individual adapter is to support. The parallel switching network becomes a flexible media that interconnects and allows different serial protocols to communicate with each other; i.e., any number of different serial protocols can interface with the same parallel switch network. This allows every node of the parallel system to send and receive messages using its own native protocol. However, a node is not restricted to communicating only with others nodes using the same protocol, but is can communicate with any of the other nodes regardless of the serial protocol they use.
182 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A protocol to protocol translator comprising:
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serial receiving means for receiving a complete serial data message transmitted serially under a serial protocol from a node coupled to the translator; a storage device including translation data corresponding to the serial protocol, the translation data including data useful for decoding data fields of the complete serial data message; serial translation means coupled to the serial receiving means and to the storage device for translating the complete serial data message from the serial protocol into a parallel protocol in response to the translation data and for storing into a send buffer a translated complete parallel data message, the serial translation means including means for inserting into the translated complete parallel data message preselected header information used by a switch network for routing the translated complete parallel data message, the parallel protocol including an N bit wide parallel format where N is a positive integer greater than one; parallel sending means coupled to the send buffer for sending a stored complete data message in the parallel protocol to a coupled input port of the switch network, the coupled input port comprising N parallel data paths for receiving an N bit wide parallel data message; and a switch network, comprising; a plurality of bufferless switching apparatus cascaded into a plurality of stages, said switching apparatus each including a plurality of switch inputs and a plurality of switch outputs, of the switch outputs included on each of said switching apparatus each coupled to a different one of the switching apparatus via a switch input of said different one of the switching apparatus, switch outputs of last stage switching apparatus each comprising a network output port and switch inputs of first stage switching apparatus each comprising a network input port; the network output ports each coupled to a network input port through one of a plurality of nodes, each of said nodes comprising means for receiving a data message from a coupled network output port and means for sending a data message to a coupled network input port, said data message to a coupled network input port including a path connection request; and said switching apparatus each further comprising connection means for establishing a point-to-point communication path between any one of the network input ports and any one of the network output ports in response to said connection request received at said any one of the network input ports, said communication path for transmitting a data message received at said any one of the network input ports to said any one of the network output ports, said connection means including asynchronous connection means for establishing asynchronously a plurality of simultaneously active point-to-point communication paths between a plurality of network input ports and a plurality of network output ports in response to a plurality of connection requests received separately or simultaneously at said plurality of network input ports, said simultaneously active communication paths for transmitting concurrently a plurality of data messages received separately or simultaneously at said plurality of network input ports to said plurality of network output ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A protocol to protocol translator comprising:
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serial receiving means for receiving a complete serial data message transmitted serially under a serial protocol from a node coupled to the translator; a storage device having translation data corresponding to the serial protocol and including preselected programmable data, the translation data including data useful for decoding data fields of the complete serial data message; serial translation means coupled to the serial receiving means and to the storage device for translating the complete serial data message from the serial protocol into a parallel protocol in response to the translation data and for storing into a send buffer a translated complete parallel data message, the serial translation means including means for inserting into the translated complete parallel data message preselected header information used by a switch network for routing the translated complete parallel data message, the parallel protocol including an N bit wide parallel format where N is a positive integer greater than one; parallel sending means coupled to the send buffer for sending a stored complete data message in the parallel protocol to a coupled input port of the switch network, the coupled input port comprising N parallel data paths for receiving an N bit wide parallel data message; parallel receiving means for receiving and storing in a receive buffer a complete parallel data message transmitted in the parallel protocol from an output port of the switch network coupled to the translator, the coupled output port comprising N parallel data paths for sending the parallel data message; parallel translation means coupled to the parallel receiving means for translating the stored complete parallel data message from the parallel protocol into the serial protocol in response to the translation data, the translation means including means for serializing the data message; serial sending means for sending a data message translated into the serial protocol to the coupled node in the serial protocol; the parallel sending means including means for receiving from the coupled input port of the switch network a reject signal issued by a destination of the translated complete parallel data message indicating an erroneous transmission of the translated complete parallel data message; and a plurality of bufferless switching apparatus cascaded into a plurality of stages, said switching apparatus each including a plurality of switch inputs and a plurality of switch outputs, of the switch outputs included on each of said switching apparatus each coupled to a different one of the switching apparatus via a switch input of said different one of the switching apparatus, switch outputs of last stage switching apparatus each comprising a network output port and switch inputs of first stage switching apparatus each comprising a network input port; the network output ports each coupled to a network input port through one of a plurality of nodes, each of said nodes comprising means for receiving a data message from a coupled network output port and means for sending a data message to a coupled network input port, said data message to a coupled network input port including a path connection request; and said switching apparatus each further comprising connection means for establishing a point-to-point communication path between any one of the network input ports and any one of the network output ports in response to said connection request received at said any one of the network input ports, said communication path for transmitting a data message received at said any one of the network input ports to said any one of the network output ports, said connection means including asynchronous connection means for establishing asynchronously a plurality of simultaneously active point-to-point communication paths between a plurality of network input ports and a plurality of network output ports in response to a plurality of connection requests received separately or simultaneously at said plurality of network input ports, said simultaneously active communication paths for transmitting concurrently a plurality of data messages received separately or simultaneously at said plurality of network input ports to said plurality of network output ports.
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Specification