Patent ID: 11907557
Assignee: INTEL CORPORATION
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A physical network switch for use in association with a physical network infrastructure, the physical network switch being for use, when the physical network switch is in operation, in receiving and switching network communications that are in accordance with multiple different link layer communication protocols, the network communications to be received by and transmitted from the physical network switch via optical links that are to be coupled between network devices of the physical network infrastructure and the physical network switch, the physical network switch comprising:
processor circuitry;
memory storing instructions for being executed by the processor circuitry, the instructions, when executed by the processor circuitry, resulting in the physical network switch being configured to perform operations comprising:
receiving, via at least one of the optical links, at least one of the network communications that is in accordance with at least one of the multiple different link layer communication protocols;
receiving, via at least one other of the optical links, at least one other network communication that is in accordance with at least one other of the multiple different link layer communication protocols; and
switching the network communications so as to permit the at least one and the at least one other network communications to be communicated via the physical network switch to the network devices via other optical links;

wherein:
when the physical network switch is in the operation, the physical network switch is configurable to provide telemetry information related, at least in part, to the physical network switch that is usable in:
cloud service management;
software defined infrastructure management;
resource allocation management; and
failure condition detection and prevention; and

the multiple different link layer communication protocols comprise an Ethernet protocol and another, different link layer protocol.