Patent ID: 6618372
Filing Date: 2003-09-09
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A communication system including a plurality of communication apparatuses coupled to a plurality of communication circuits, said communication system receives a packet from a communication circuit of an originating communication apparatus and transfers said packet to a communication circuit of a destination communication apparatus, each communication apparatus comprising:a plurality of packet input/output interfaces; a memory which stores new connection identifiers corresponding to destinations of received packets; a converter which converts connection identifiers included in headers of received packets to said new connection identifiers stored in said memory; and a switch which transfers a received packet to one of the plurality of packet input/output interfaces based on said new connection identifiers, wherein a control signal is communicated via a first connection previously set between said originating communication apparatus and said destination communication apparatus to determine a second connection through which said received packet is to be transferred, and when said second connection is determined, a new connection identifier corresponding to said second connection is stored in the memory of each of the plurality of communication apparatuses in which said second connection is to be setup, and wherein when said received packet has been received by a packet input/output interface of said originating communication apparatus, the connection identifier of said received packet is converted to said new connection identifier stored in the memory and said received packet is output from a packet input/output interface of said destination communication apparatus via the plurality of communication apparatuses in which said second connection is setup.