Patent ID: 7197032

Claim:
An ethernet switch assembly comprising: a multiple port crossbar switch including first, second, and third crossbars, each of said first, second, and third crossbars including M ports and a switch matrix capable of switching ethernet data from one of its ports to another of its ports, and a plurality of interconnect buses, a first set of K ports of said first crossbar coupled to a first set of K ports of said second crossbar through K of said interconnect buses, a second set of K ports of said first crossbar coupled to a first set of K ports of said third crossbar through K of said interconnect buses, and a second set of K ports of said second crossbar coupled to a second set of K ports of said third crossbar through K of said interconnect buses, wherein L ports of each of said first, second and third crossbars are available as ports for said multiple port crossbar switch, and wherein M>L>K, and (3×L)>M, so that the number of external ports of the multiple port crossbar switch is increased beyond the number of ports of each of the first, second, and third crossbars; and a plurality of ethernet controllers each having a first input coupled to a respective one of said available ports of said multiple port crossbar switch via an interconnect bus.