Pipelined multiple issue packet switch

Details Pipelined multiple issue packet switch Pipelined multiple issue packet switch

2000-04-17

2004-12-14

Chin, Wellington (Department: 2664)

Multiplex communications

Pathfinding or routing

Switching a message which includes an address header

C370S394000, C370S428000, C370S429000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06831923

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pipelined multiple issue packet switch.
2. Description of Related Art
When computers are coupled together into networks for communication, it is known to couple networks together and to provide a switching device which is coupled to more than one network. The switching device receives packets from one network and retransmits those packets (possibly in another format) on another network. In general, it is desirable for the switching device to operate as quickly as possible.
However, there are several constraints under which the switching device must operate. First, packets may encapsulate differing protocols, and thus may differ significantly in length and in processing time. Second, when switching packets from one network to another, it is generally required that packets are re-transmitted in the same order as they arrive. Because of these two constraints, known switching device architectures are not able to take advantage of significant parallelism in switching packets.
It is also desirable to account ahead of time for future improvements in processing hardware, such as bandwidth and speed of a network interface, clock speed of a switching processor, and memory size of a packet buffer, so that the design of the switching device is flexible and scaleable with such improvements.
The following U.S. Patents may be pertinent:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,555 to Devault et al., “Time Division Multiplex Switching Network For Multiservice Digital Networks”;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,686 to Joy et al., “Asynchronous Time Division Switching Arrangement and A Method of Operating Same”;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,004 to Proctor et al., “Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switching Arrangement Providing Broadcast Transmission”; and
U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,343 to Bostica et al., “Basic Element for the Connection Network of A Fast Packet Switching Node”.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an improved architecture for a packet switch, which can make packet switching decisions responsive to link layer (ISO level 2) or protocol layer (ISO level 3) header information, which is capable of high speed operation at relatively low cost, and which is flexible and scaleable with future improvements in processing hardware.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a pipelined multiple issue link layer or protocol layer packet switch, which processes packets independently and asynchronously, but reorders them into their original order, thus preserving the original incoming packet order. Each stage of the pipeline waits for the immediately previous stage to complete, thus causing the packet switch to be self-throttling and thus allowing differing protocols and features to use the same architecture, even if possibly requiring differing processing times. The multiple issue pipeline is scaleable to greater parallel issue of packets, and tunable to differing switch engine architectures, differing interface speeds and widths, and differing clock rates and buffer sizes.
In a preferred embodiment, the packet switch comprises a fetch stage, which fetches the packet header into one of a plurality of fetch caches, a switching stage comprising a plurality of switch engines, each of which independently and asychronously reads from corresponding fetch caches, makes switching decisions, and writes to a reorder memory, a reorder engine which reads from the reorder memory in the packets' original order, and a post-processing stage, comprising a post-process queue and a post-process engine, which performs protocol-specific post-processing on the packets.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4131767 (1978-12-01), Weinstein
patent: 4161719 (1979-07-01), Parikh et al.
patent: 4316284 (1982-02-01), Howson
patent: 4397020 (1983-08-01), Howson
patent: 4419728 (1983-12-01), Larson
patent: 4424565 (1984-01-01), Larson
patent: 4437087 (1984-03-01), Petr
patent: 4438511 (1984-03-01), Baran
patent: 4439763 (1984-03-01), Limb
patent: 4445213 (1984-04-01), Baugh et al.
patent: 4446555 (1984-05-01), Devault et al.
patent: 4456957 (1984-06-01), Schieltz
patent: 4464658 (1984-08-01), Thelen
patent: 4499576 (1985-02-01), Fraser
patent: 4506358 (1985-03-01), Montgomery
patent: 4507760 (1985-03-01), Fraser
patent: 4532626 (1985-07-01), Flores et al.
patent: 4644532 (1987-02-01), George et al.
patent: 4646287 (1987-02-01), Larson et al.
patent: 4677423 (1987-06-01), Benvenuto et al.
patent: 4679189 (1987-07-01), Olson et al.
patent: 4679227 (1987-07-01), Hughes-Hartogs
patent: 4723267 (1988-02-01), Jones et al.
patent: 4731816 (1988-03-01), Hughes-Hartogs
patent: 4750136 (1988-06-01), Arpin et al.
patent: 4757495 (1988-07-01), Decker et al.
patent: 4763191 (1988-08-01), Gordon et al.
patent: 4769810 (1988-09-01), Eckberg, Jr. et al.
patent: 4769811 (1988-09-01), Eckberg, Jr. et al.
patent: 4771425 (1988-09-01), Baran et al.
patent: 4819228 (1989-04-01), Baran et al.
patent: 4827411 (1989-05-01), Arrowood et al.
patent: 4833706 (1989-05-01), Hughes-Hartogs
patent: 4835737 (1989-05-01), Herrig et al.
patent: 4879551 (1989-11-01), Georgiou et al.
patent: 4893306 (1990-01-01), Chao et al.
patent: 4903261 (1990-02-01), Baran et al.
patent: 4922486 (1990-05-01), Lidinsky et al.
patent: 4933937 (1990-06-01), Konishi
patent: 4960310 (1990-10-01), Cushing
patent: 4962497 (1990-10-01), Ferenc et al.
patent: 4962532 (1990-10-01), Kasirai et al.
patent: 4965772 (1990-10-01), Daniel et al.
patent: 4970678 (1990-11-01), Sladowski et al.
patent: 4979118 (1990-12-01), Kheradpir
patent: 4980897 (1990-12-01), Decker et al.
patent: 4991169 (1991-02-01), Davis et al.
patent: 5003595 (1991-03-01), Collins et al.
patent: 5014265 (1991-05-01), Hahne et al.
patent: 5020058 (1991-05-01), Holden et al.
patent: 5033076 (1991-07-01), Jones et al.
patent: 5054034 (1991-10-01), Hughes-Hartog
patent: 5059925 (1991-10-01), Weisbloom
patent: 5072449 (1991-12-01), Enns et al.
patent: 5088032 (1992-02-01), Bosack
patent: 5095480 (1992-03-01), Fenner
patent: 5115431 (1992-05-01), Williams et al.
patent: 5128945 (1992-07-01), Enns et al.
patent: 5136580 (1992-08-01), Videlock et al.
patent: 5166930 (1992-11-01), Braff et al.
patent: 5199049 (1993-03-01), Wilson
patent: 5206886 (1993-04-01), Bingham
patent: 5208811 (1993-05-01), Kashio et al.
patent: 5212686 (1993-05-01), Joy et al.
patent: 5224099 (1993-06-01), Corbalis et al.
patent: 5226120 (1993-07-01), Brown et al.
patent: 5228062 (1993-07-01), Bingham
patent: 5229994 (1993-07-01), Balzano et al.
patent: 5237564 (1993-08-01), Lespagnol et al.
patent: 5241682 (1993-08-01), Bryant et al.
patent: 5243342 (1993-09-01), Kattemalalavadi et al.
patent: 5243596 (1993-09-01), Port et al.
patent: 5247516 (1993-09-01), Bernstein et al.
patent: 5249178 (1993-09-01), Kurano et al.
patent: 5253251 (1993-10-01), Aramaki
patent: 5255291 (1993-10-01), Holden et al.
patent: 5260933 (1993-11-01), Rouse
patent: 5260978 (1993-11-01), Fleischer et al.
patent: 5268592 (1993-12-01), Bellamy et al.
patent: 5268900 (1993-12-01), Hluchj et al.
patent: 5271004 (1993-12-01), Proctor et al.
patent: 5274631 (1993-12-01), Bhardwaj
patent: 5274635 (1993-12-01), Rahman et al.
patent: 5274643 (1993-12-01), Fisk
patent: 5280470 (1994-01-01), Buhrke et al.
patent: 5280480 (1994-01-01), Pitt et al.
patent: 5280500 (1994-01-01), Mazzola et al.
patent: 5283783 (1994-02-01), Nguyen et al.
patent: 5287103 (1994-02-01), Kasprzyk et al.
patent: 5287453 (1994-02-01), Roberts
patent: 5291482 (1994-03-01), McHarg et al.
patent: 5305311 (1994-04-01), Lyles
patent: 5307343 (1994-04-01), Bostica et al.
patent: 5309437 (1994-05-01), Perlman et al.
patent: 5311509 (1994-05-01), Heddes et al.
patent: 5313454 (1994-05-01), Bustini et al.
patent: 5313582 (1994-05-01), Hendel et al.
patent: 5317562 (1994-05-01), Nardin et al.
patent: 5319644 (1994-06-01), Liang
patent: 5327421 (1994-07-01), Hiller et al.
patent: 5331637 (1994-07-01), Francis et al.
patent: 5339311 (1994-08-01), Turner
patent: 5345445 (1994-09-01), Hiller et al.
patent: 5345446 (1994-09-01), Hiller et al.
patent: 5359592 (1994-10-01), Corbalis et al.
pat

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Pipelined multiple issue packet switch does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Pipelined multiple issue packet switch, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Pipelined multiple issue packet switch will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3313936