Claims
- 1. A system comprising:
a plurality of nodes, each node comprising a plurality of input and output ports for accepting and transmitting values, respectively, and a switch for selecting an output port to output a value received on an input port; a plurality of ingress nodes wherein the input ports of the ingress nodes are ingress ports of the system and egress nodes wherein the output ports of the egress nodes are egress ports of the system; a plurality of node connections wherein a connection connects the output port of one node with the input port of another node; sets of nodes, wherein the number of nodes in a set increases with the set's distance from the closest input node or output node; input stage sets wherein a set which is closer to an ingress node than to an egress node is an input stage set; and output stage sets wherein a set which is closer to an egress node than to an ingress node is a output stage set; each of the nodes of an input stage set being configured to transmit information during a clock cycle such that the information is intended for the same output stage set.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the nodes of an input stage set transmit information intended for the same output stage set having the same number of nodes as the input stage set.
- 3. The system of claim 1 further comprising a center set substantially equidistant from the ingress and egress nodes, and wherein each of the nodes of the center stage set transmits information intended for the same output stage set.
- 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the nodes of an input stage set transmit information intended for the same output stage set substantially simultaneously.
- 5. The system of claim 4 wherein all of the nodes share a common clock cycle.
- 6. The system of claim 1 wherein output stage sets do not receive information intended for other output sets of the same size.
- 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the size of a set increases exponentially with distance from the closest input or output node.
- 8. The system of claim 7 wherein the size of a set increases exponentially based on the number of inputs to the node and distance from the closest input or output node.
- 9. The system of claim 1 wherein a node of an input stage set queues information received on the input ports until all of the nodes of the set store information intended for the same output stage set.
- 10. The system of claim 1 wherein each node is in a stage, and wherein the closest distance between the nodes of a stage and the ingress ports is different for each stage.
- 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the number of nodes in each stage is the same.
- 12. The system of claim 10 wherein the number of nodes in some stages is larger than the number of nodes in other stages.
- 13. The system of claim 1 wherein the nodes are packet switches.
- 14. The system of claim 1 comprising high capacity switch for broadband transmissions.
- 15. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one set contains at least three nodes.
- 16. A method of routing cells through a network of nodes, each node comprising a plurality of input and output ports and a switch for selecting an output port to output a value received on an input port, the network having ingress and egress ports and a plurality of node connections wherein a connection connects the output port of one node with the input port of another node, the method comprising:
grouping cells according to input/output port pairing such that there a re as many cells in a group as there are independent paths between a given ingress/egress port pair; during a single clock cycle, sending each cell of a group on a different one of alternative independent paths; and determining which cells to forward at each stage along the alternative paths so that cells of the group propagate through the network at the same rate; whereby the cells of a group arrive at the output stage during the same clock cycle and are transmitted through the egress port in proper sequence.
- 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the cells are the same size.
- 18. The method of claim 16 wherein each cell defines the egress path through which the cell is to be transferred.
- 19. A method of routing cells of information through a switch comprised of stages of interconnected nodes, the method comprising:
receiving cells at ingress ports to the switch, the cells having egress ports as a destination; transmitting the cells towards the center stage of the switch in groups, whereby groups of cells transmitted from a set of nodes in stage i are grouped based upon cells which have a particular set of nodes in stage 2k−i as a common intermediate destination within the switch; and transmitting the cells out of egress ports.
- 20. The method of claim 19 further comprising deferring transmission of cells out of a set until all of the nodes of the set have cells having the same particular set of nodes as a common intermediate destination.
- 21. The method of claim 19 further comprising disassembling the groups after the cells pass the center stage.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein each stage after the center stage further disassembles the groups.
- 23. The method of claim 21 wherein each cell of a group comprises information unrelated to another cell of the group.
- 24. A method of transmitting information along a nodal network comprising:
transmitting information cells grouped according to burst size to a set of nodes according to a multiplexed scheme; demultiplexing the information cells grouped according to burst size in connection with said information cells being transmitted from a set of central nodes; and delaying transmitting information cells in connection with the arrival of information at a transmitting node so as constitute a group of cells at least equal in size to the burst size.
- 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the network comprises a Clos network.
- 26. The method of claim 24 wherein each said set of nodes comprises, up until a set of central nodes in the network, a number of nodes equal to a multiple of node inputs.
- 27. A method of transporting cells of information of fixed size through a multi-stage Clos network comprising:
forming groups of cells at a node in any stage of the Clos network except the last stage, each group of size s, and transmitting the group members through s output ports of the node during a single clock cycle.
- 28. The method of claim 27 wherein a plurality of nodes of the network form groups of cells.
- 29. The method of claim 27 wherein the cells of a group have the same destination.
- 30. The method of claim 29 wherein the destination is a node in the Clos network.
- 31. The method of claim 29 wherein the destination is an egress port of the Clos network.
- 32. The method of claim 27 further comprising holding the cells in a queue until a s number of cells are assembled to create a group.
- 33. The method of claim 27 further comprising transferring the members of a group from one stage of the Clos network to the next substantially simultaneously.
- 34. The method of claim 27 wherein all members of a group pass through a single node in the Clos network and further comprising reassembling the group at said single node.
- 35. The method of claim 34 wherein the group is reassembled with cells of the group placed in the original sequence.
- 36. The method of claim 27 further comprising, when a plurality of cells of a group arrive at a node, enqueuing the cells based on the destination of the cell.
- 37. The method of claim 36 wherein the sequence of the cells' ingress into the network is preserved when the cells are enqueued.
- 37. The method of claim 36 wherein the destination is another node in the Clos network.
- 38. The method of claim 36 wherein the destination is an egress port of the Clos network.
- 39. A cell switching system comprising:
a first stage comprising m n-to-one multiplexers that transmit information to a second stage; each multiplexer configured so as to form groups of cells of size n and transmit group members substantially simultaneously; said second stage comprising a set of n m-by-m switches that feed into a third stage; and said third stage comprising m one-to-n demultiplexers; wherein one cell goes to each switch of the second stage and all members of a group are destined for one of the demultiplexers in the third stage.
- 40. A system of claim 39 wherein the second stage of the cell system comprises:
a second first stage comprising m n-to-one multiplexers that transmit information to a second stage; each multiplexer of the second first stage configured so as to form groups of cells of size n and transmit group members substantially simultaneously; a second second stage comprising a set of n m-by-m switches that feed into a second third stage; and a second third stage comprising m one-to-n demultiplexers.
- 41. A system of claim 40 wherein the second second stage of the cell system comprises:
a third first stage comprising m n-to-one multiplexers that transmit information to a second stage; each multiplexer of the third first stage configured so as to form groups of cells of size n and transmit group members substantially simultaneously; a third second stage comprising a set of n m-by-m switches that feed into a third third stage; and a third third stage comprising m one-to-n demultiplexers.
- 42. The system of claim 40 wherein the second second stage comprises a set of n individual switch nodes.
- 43. The system of claim 40 wherein the system further comprises a network of nodes and wherein all n cells of a group entering the second second stage are handled identically by the nodes such that the group of cells emerge from the second second stage at the same time and arrive simultaneously at the same third stage demultiplexer.
- 44. The system of claim 40 wherein all cells within a group formed by a multiplexer in the first stage arrive simultaneously at a destination demultiplexer of the third stage.
- 45. The system of claim 40 wherein the demultiplexers enqueue the cells of an incoming group so as to preserve the sequential order in which the cells were input into the multiplexer that formed the group.
- 46. The system of claim 40 wherein: the system comprises a switch having N ingress ports and N egress ports where N is the product of n and m; the N ingress ports correspond to the n input ports on the m multiplexers of the first stage, and; the N egress ports correspond to the n output ports of the m demultiplexers of the third stage.
- 47. The system of claim 46 wherein the cells comprise a header representing the intended egress port of the cell.
- 48. The system of claim 47 wherein cells arrive at the egress port in the same sequence in which they arrived at the ingress port.
- 49. A switching system comprising:
a plurality of ingress ports through which packets enter the system, a plurality of egress ports through which packets leave the system, and a plurality of stages each of which comprises a set of switches, each set comprising a plurality of input ports for accepting packets and a plurality of output ports for transmitting packets; a plurality of the sets being configured to form groups of packets, each group containing s packets, and to transmit group members through s ports of the node during a single clock cycle.
- 50. The system of claim 49 wherein different nodes have different values for s.
- 51. The system of claim 50 wherein the nodes of the same stage have the same value for s.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/470,574 filed May 14, 2003, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60470574 |
May 2003 |
US |