Patent ID: 6233243
Filing Date: 2001-05-15
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for performing cut-through virtual connection merging at an output port of a network switch having a plurality of input ports in a connection based network comprising:determining whether any of a plurality of cell buffers being loaded from said respective plurality of input ports contains a fully received packet available for transmission over a virtual connection;if at least one fully received packet is determined to be available for transmission,selecting one of said fully received packets for transmission using a first predetermined selection criteria;transmitting said selected packet over said virtual connection; andreturning to said determining step;if no fully received packets are determined to be available for transmission over said virtual connection, determining whether any of said plurality of cell buffers contains a partially received packet available for cut-through transmission over said virtual connection;if no partially received packets are determined to be available for transmission, returning to said determining step;if at least one partially received packet is determined to be available for transmission over said virtual connection,selecting one of the partially received packets for cut-through transmission using a second predetermined criteria for selection;initiating cut-through transmission of said selected partially received packet over said virtual connection;in the event an End of Packet signal is not received for the packet undergoing cut-through transmission prior to expiration of a predetermined period following the initiation of transmission of said cut-through packet, generating and transmitting over said virtual connection an End of Packet (EOP) indication; andreturning to said determining step.