Patent ID: 7525904
Filing Date: 2009-04-28
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of routing and switching a packet from an incoming link to an outgoing link in a router with redundancy comprising: providing at least one network processing unit to perform routing operations and to determine an outgoing link to transmit the packet based on information in a header of the packet, the at least one network processing unit being connected with at least one active switching engine and at least one inactive switching engine, wherein a transmission of packets is mapped from the at least one network processing unit to the at least one active switching engine, the outgoing link being determined prior to dividing the data packet into a plurality of cells and storing the plurality of cells in a memory of the at least one active switching engine; activating one of the at least one inactive switching engines, when any active switching engine discontinues operating normally, and rotating the active inputs of the switching engine that has discontinued operating normally to the activated one of the at least one inactive switching engines; and remapping the transmission of packets to the activated at least one inactive switching engine.