Patent ID: 8040821
Filing Date: 2011-10-18
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
1. A switching device comprising: an input stage switch group connected to a plurality of input lines, said input stage switch group comprising a plurality of input stage switches; an output stage switch group connected to a plurality of output lines, said output stage switch group comprising a plurality of output stage switches; an intermediate stage switch group connecting the input stage switch group to the output stage switch group, said intermediate stage switch group comprising a plurality of intermediate stage switches; and schedulers performing scheduling operations for deciding signal paths between the input stage switch group and the output stage switch group via the intermediate stage switch group based on information input to the respective input lines, wherein the intermediate stage switch group is divided into a plurality of groups of intermediate stage switches, at least one of the groups of intermediate stage switches comprising a plurality of intermediate stage switches, the schedulers are arranged to correspond to the plurality of groups, respectively, and the schedulers operate independently of one another, wherein the number of the plurality of groups of intermediate stage switches is smaller than the number of all the intermediate stage switches of said intermediate stage switch group, the number of the schedulers is equal to the number of the plurality of groups of intermediate stage switches, and the intermediate stage switches are connected to each of the plurality of input stage switches through a plurality of lines, wherein in the at least one of the groups of intermediate stage switches, the scheduler corresponding to the at least one of the groups performs scheduling operation of the plurality of intermediate stage switches included in the at least one of the groups, and wherein the respective schedulers perform the scheduling operations based on priority orders different among the schedulers, the input stage switch group is divided into a plurality of groups, and each of the schedulers decides the priority order based on an input line number and a group number indicating each of the plurality of groups divided from the input stage switch group.