Patent ID: 7480246

Claim:
A method for routing data segments through a switch fabric from one or more source nodes of the switch fabric to a destination node of the switch fabric, the method comprising: (a) identifying each data segment as being one of at least two different segment types; (b) transmitting each identified data segment within the switch fabric from one of the one or more source nodes to the destination node; and (c) maintaining at least two counters for the destination node, one counter for each different segment type, wherein each counter characterizes the transmission of identified data segments of the corresponding segment type within the switch fabric, wherein: for each of a plurality of first-type time periods, all data segments transmitted within the switch fabric are identified as being of a first type, and a corresponding first-type counter characterizes the transmission of the first-type data segments within the switch fabric; for each of a plurality of second-type time periods, all data segments transmitted within the switch fabric are identified as being of a second type, and a corresponding second-type counter characterizes the transmission of the second-type data segments within the switch fabric; the first-type time periods are interleaved with the second-type time periods; the first-type counter is reset after termination of each first-type time period to correct for a possible error in characterizing the transmission of the first-type data segments within the switch fabric during the first-type time period; and the second-type counter is reset after termination of each second-type time period to correct for a possible error in characterizing the transmission of the second-type data segments within the switch fabric during the second-type time period.