Patent ID: 7286531

Claim:
A method for the processing of control packets and their corresponding data in switched networks, wherein when a control packet is received by a network node, said control packet is processed in the following ordered steps comprising: a) receiving said control packet at an input port of said network node, determining from the control information carried by said control packet the output port(s) for said control packet and the output bandwidth needed on output channel(s) at said output port(s) for the data corresponding to said control packet, and, modifying the control information to be carried by said control packet; b) determining if said bandwidth at said output port(s) can be reserved successfully on said output channel(s) within said output port(s), and: (1) if said bandwidth can be reserved, blocking other control packets from reserving said bandwidth, and forwarding said control packet to said output port(s), and then proceeding to step c), or; (2) then if said bandwidth cannot be reserved then stopping said processing of said control packet and starting one or more operations to resolve contention on said control packet and said data; c) after said control packet has been forwarded, reserving said bandwidth on said output channels(s) by completing book-keeping tasks required to maintain the data structure used to represent the bandwidth availability/usage information; d) determining what control signals should be generated to configure said node's switching elements, channel converters, delay buffers and other network devices as may be present, so that said data will be switched to said output channel(s) within said output port(s); e) generating said control signals, and; f) scheduling the transmission of said control signals for immediate or later transmission.