Patent ID: 6636483
Filing Date: 2003-10-21
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A network switch for routing data between network stations, the network switch comprising:a plurality of output ports, each output port receiving, storing and then forwarding data to a separate one of said network stations, each output port asserting an output FULL signal when it stores more than a predetermined minimum amount of received data, each output port deasserting its output FULL signal when it stores less than said predetermined minimum amount of data; a plurality of input ports, each input port receiving data from a separate one of said network stations and forwarding the received data to selected ones of said output ports; a switch connected to said input ports and to said output ports for selectively providing a path for conveying data from any one of said input ports to any one of said output ports in response to routing control data provided as input to said switch; and a routing arbitrator connected to said switch for providing said routing control data as input thereto, connected to each of said input ports for receiving routing requests therefrom, and connected to each of said output ports for receiving the output FULL signal generated thereby, wherein when any one of said input ports receives data from a network station, the receiving input port transmits a routing request to said routing arbitrator requesting said routing arbitrator to grant the routing request by providing routing control data to said switch thereby causing said switch to provide a path through which the receiving input port may transmit the data to a requested one of said output ports, and wherein said routing arbitrator refrains from granting a routing request to any requested output port while the output port is asserting its FULL signal, and then grants the routing request after the requested output port stops asserting its FULL signal.