Patent ID: 7085802

Claim:
A communication device for transferring data between two devices coupled to a network, said communication device comprising: a dual-port memory for storing data; a high-speed interface for transmitting said data between a first device and said dual-port memory, wherein said high-speed interface communicates data at an initial rate; a plurality of low-speed interfaces, each connected to a respective one of a plurality of links to said second device, for transmitting data from said dual-port memory to said respective one of said plurality of links at one of a plurality of data rates, wherein at least two of said plurality of data rates are unequal and are fractions of said initial rate, all said fractions being capable of reduction to a common denominator and at least one of said fractions being irreducible; and a controller for controlling said memory and said interfaces and for monitor a data rate of said data between said memory and said plurality of links, wherein said controller includes means for cyclically distributing data to be communicated from said memory to said second device among said low-speed interfaces, such that each of said plurality of low speed interfaces receives a number of consecutive units of said data equal to the numerator of its associated fraction.