Patent ID: 7058010

Claim:
A method of performing a switchover of data flows in a multiservice packet based switch from a first data flow path to a second redundant data flow path without loss of data, said multiservice switch including redundant switching cores, said method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of ingress and egress communications traffic flow controllers, each of said flow controllers directing one or more threads of said communications traffic over one or another of said redundant switching cores; monitoring communications flow paths traversing said ingress flow controller, one of said redundant switching cores and said egress flow controller; in response to a need for switching at least a portion of said data flows to said redundant data flow path, causing an interruption of said at least a portion of said data flow by an ingress flow controller and signaling the occurrence of said interruption to an egress flow controller in a traffic thread from said ingress flow controller, wherein said interruption signaling further identifies a switchover of at least a portion of said data flows to a path including said another switching core; waiting an interval after said interruption and thereafter causing said least a portion of said data flows to be restarted; providing a signal from said ingress flow controller to said egress flow controller indicative of said data flow restart and directing a switchover by said egress flow controller to said another switching core path; and accepting said data flows from said path traversing said another switching core.