Patent ID: 6304555
Filing Date: 2001-10-16
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A switch device comprising:a receiving port which receives cells from a data sending device;a switch section which switches the cells received through said receiving port;a cell-to-packet transform section which receives, through said switch section, the cells received by said receiving port, and assembles said cells into a packet;a packet processing section which processes said packet transformed from the cells by said cell-to-packet transform section;a packet-to-cell transform section which disassembles the packet processed by said packet processing section into cells and sends said cells to said switch section; anda sending port which receives the cells sent from said packet-to-cell transform section through said switch section, and sends said cells to a data receiving device; wherein:said switch section sets, for packet processing, a first virtual connection leading through said cell-to-packet transform section, said packet processing section, and said packet-to-cell transform section, and a second virtual connection for switching the cells received by said receiving port so as to send said cells to said sending port; andwhen virtual connection for transmitting cells is changed from said first virtual connection to said second virtual connection based on a connection change request from said data receiving device, said switch section sends cells via said first virtual connection until cells which constitute at least one packet of data have been switched.