Patent ID: 7058084
Filing Date: 2006-06-06
Classification: G01J,G06F,H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
1. A multistage interconnect network comprising: (a) a plurality of switch nodes connected together, each of the switch nodes comprising a first plurality of input ports selectively connectable to a second plurality of output ports, the multistage interconnect network comprising more than ┌log (b) the multistage interconnect network including forward channel and back channel signal paths between the switch nodes; (c) the multistage interconnect network capable of multicast transmitting forward channel messages from a source connected to the multistage interconnect network to one or more destinations connected to the multistage interconnect network; (d) the multistage interconnect network capable of combining back channel replies received from the destinations into a single result, wherein the result is transmitted on the back channel to the source.