Claims
- 1. A packet switch comprising:
a plurality of line interfaces each of which is coupled with a pair of input, and output ATM lines to communicate ATM cells with said input and output ATM lines, each of said ATM cells comprising an ATM header and a payload for carrying information to be transmitted; and a routing unit coupled with said line interfaces and configured to receive data packets from each of said line interfaces and to selectively transfer the data packet to one of said line interfaces specified by the header information of said data packets, wherein at least two of said line interfaces are configured to selectively convert a group of ATM cells received from the input ATM line associated therewith to one of a first type of data packet in which ATM headers of said ATM cells are removed and a second type of data packet in which ATM headers of said ATM cells are remained and to convert first and second type of data packets received from said routing unit to a group of ATM cells to be transmitted to the output ATM line associated therewith.
- 2. A packet switch according to claim 1, wherein said first type of data packet comprises a packet header including identifier for identifying the data packet as the first type and an information field in which a plurality of ATM payloads are arranged continuously, and said second type of data packet comprises a packet header including identifier for identifying the data packet as the second type and an information field in which a plurality of ATM cells with ATM headers are arranged continuously.
- 3. A packet switch according to claim 2, wherein said second type of data packet includes at least one data cell and at least one management cell in the information field.
- 4. A packet switch according to claim 2, wherein said second type of data packet includes a plurality of data cells derived from one original data packet and at least one management cell belonging to the same connection as that of said data cells in the information field.
- 5. A packet switch according to claim 2, wherein the header of each of said first and second type of data packets is an IP (Internet Protocol) header.
- 6. A packet switch comprising:
plurality of line interfaces coupled with a pair of input and output ATM lines respectively; and a routing unit coupled with said line interfaces to relay an IP (Internet Protocol) packet received from one of said line interfaces to the other one of said line interfaces specified by the header information of the packet, wherein each of said line interfaces is configured to convert a group of ATM cells received from the input ATM line associated therewith to an IP packet to be transferred to said routing unit, to insert management cells received from said input ATM line into said IP packet to be transferred to said routing unit, and to convert an IP packet received from said routing unit to a group of ATM cells to be transmitted to the output ATM line associated therewith.
- 7. A packet switch according to claim 6, wherein each of said line interface is configured to insert said management cells into one of IP packets which includes a string of data cells belonging to the same connection as that of said management cell.
- 8. A packet switch according to claim 7, wherein each of said line interfaces includes a memory for storing information indicating whether a management cell should be relayed to one of the other line interfaces in corresponding to respective connections on the input ATM line associated therewith so that management cells are selectively inserted into said IP packet.
- 9. A packet switch, comprising:
a plurality of line interfaces connected to a pair of input and output lines respectively, each of said input and output lines transmitting data packets in a form of fixed length. of data cells each having a cell header and a payload for carrying a data block composing a part of said data packet; and a routing unit for relaying data packets among said line interfaces; wherein each of said line interfaces includes:
means for determining whether to relay a management cell for each connection defined on the input line associated therewith; memory means for storing data cells received from said input line and at least one management cell to be relayed for each connection; means for extracting a packet header carried by the first cell of each of data packets; means for composing an internal packet composed of said extracted packet header and an information field in which data cells and at least one management cell read out from said memory means are arranged and for passing the internal packet to said routing unit; means for decomposing an internal packet composed of data cells and at least one management cell received from said routing unit into a plurality of cells; header converting means for updating the connection identifier in the cell header of each of said decomposed cells according to the header information of said internal packet received from said routing unit; and means for transmitting said data cells and said management cell whose header is updated respectively to the output line associated therewith, sequentially.
- 10. A packet switch connected to a plurality of input and output ATM lines for switching data packets, each of which is received in a form of ATM cells from one of said input ATM lines, to one of said output ATM lines specified by a packet header of said data packet, comprising:
a plurality of line interfaces each connected to one of said input ATM lines and configured to convert a group of ATM cells received from said one input ATM line to a data packet and to selectively insert management cells received from the input ATM line into a data packet composed of ATM cells on the same connection as that of said management cells; and a routing controller coupled with said line interfaces to communicate data packets with said line interfaces.
- 11. In a packet switch including a routing unit coupled with a plurality of line interfaces each connected to a pair of input and output ATM lines, wherein data packets are received by said line interfaces in a form of ATM cells from said input ATM lines and switched by said routing unit to one of the other line interfaces according to respective packet headers of said data packets, characterized in that at least two of said line interfaces are configured to communicate with said routing unit an internal data packet which includes at least one management cell received from one of said input ATM lines.
- 12. A method for relaying management cells in a packet switch provided with a plurality of line interfaces each connected to a pair of input and output ATM lines, wherein each of said line interfaces receives ATM cells from the input ATM line associated therewith and converts a series of ATM cells belonging to the same original packet to a first type of internal packet having a packet header and an information field in which respective payloads of said series of ATM cells are arranged continuously, said internal packet is transferred to one of the other line interfaces specified by said packet header and then converted to a series of output ATM cells and sent out to the output ATM line of said one of the other line interfaces, said method comprising the steps of:
converting a series of ATM cells including at least one management cell at first one of said line interfaces into a second type of internal packet having a packet header and an information field in which a series of said ATM cells are arranged continuously; transferring said second type of internal packet to second one of said line interfaces specified by said packet header; and extracting a series of said ATM cells from the information field of said second type of internal packet at said second line interface and transmitting the extracted ATM cells to the output ATM line associated therewith after updating respective cell header of said extracted ATM cells.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
9-292024 |
Oct 1997 |
JP |
|
Parent Case Info
[0001] The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/178,539, filed Oct. 26, 1998, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09178539 |
Oct 1998 |
US |
Child |
10086693 |
Mar 2002 |
US |