Patent ID: 7095760

Claim:
A switching arrangement for switching an ATM cell having an ATM cell header, comprising: a first circuit configured to receive said ATM cell; a second circuit coupled to said first circuit, said second circuit creating a packet header having at least a portion of the information contained in said ATM cell header and attaching said packet header to said ATM cell, thereby forming an ATM cell-containing packet; a packet switch device configured to switch packets among a plurality of ports, said packet switch device being operatively coupled to said second circuit to receive said ATM cell-containing packet through a first port and to switch said ATM cell-containing packet to a second port as if said ATM cell-containing packet is a packet of the type normally switched by said packet switch device; and a third circuit operatively coupled to said packet switch device for receiving said ATM cell-containing packet, said third circuit identifying said ATM cell-containing packet as a packet containing an ATM cell, said third circuit removing said packet header to recover said ATM cell.