Patent ID: 7046665
Filing Date: 2006-05-16
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A switch comprising: a classification module to classify packets according to information contained in a header of a packet; a packet identifier coupled to the classification module to identify packets formatted in accordance with an Ethernet Protocol and to further determine whether to send or discard each packet; a switching fabric coupled to the packet identifier to operate in accordance with a Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) protocol and to place packets into an appropriate queue based at least in part on each packet's classification; a scheduling module coupled to the switching fabric to schedule the packets for transmission and to provide Quality of Service (QoS) to the packets; and a control module coupled to the classification module, the packet identifier, and the scheduling module to control the functions of each module and to select a next appropriate link for packet transmission based on information about faults in the network.