Patent ID: 6724759
Filing Date: 2004-04-20
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for transferring a packet from a port controller to a switch fabric in a switch system, comprising:(a) storing a packet in a memory of a port controller utilizing a direct memory access (DMA) of the port controller; (b) receiving notification from the DMA that the packet has been processed in the port controller, wherein the notification is received utilizing a scheduler of the port controller coupled to the DMA and memory; (c) assigning the packet to an output priority queue utilizing the scheduler; (d) linking the packet to the assigned output priority queue utilizing the scheduler; (e) retrieving the packet from the memory via the link utilizing the scheduler; and (f) transmitting the retrieved packet from the port controller to the switch fabric utilizing the scheduler, wherein the packet after being processed includes a destination vector indicating at least one destination for the packet accessible via the switch fabric.