Patent ID: 6351466
Filing Date: 2002-02-26
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A method of operation of a switching system, the switching system comprising:a plurality of output stages each operable to supply packets of data to a respective output line; a plurality of input stages each operable to receive packets of data on a respective input line, each received packet being destined for at least a respective one of the output stages; and a transfer stage operable to transfer packets of data from any of the input stages to those of the output stages for which those packets are destined; and the method of operation of the switching system comprising the steps of: for each output stage, noting the temporal order in which the packets destined for that output stage are received by the input stages; and controlling the transfer stage so that, for each output stage, the packets destined for the output stage are transferred from the input stages to that output stage in the noted order wherein each input stage comprises a plurality of input buffers, one for each output stage, the method further including the step of placing each received packet in that one of the input buffers for the input line on which that packet is received and for the output stage for which that packet is destined.