Patent ID: 8503439

Claim:
A frame switching device for an AFDX network, comprising: a first port, configured to be connected to a switch of the network or to a terminal; and a plurality of second ports configured to be respectively connected to a plurality of on-board pieces of equipment, wherein each incident frame on the first port is replicated on each of the second ports as it is received on the first port, wherein the second ports are periodically polled in turn, each frame present on a second polled port being transferred onto the first port, and wherein each second port is associated with an input buffer in which are stored the incident frames on the second port, each port being polled by checking whether the buffer with which it is associated contains a frame, and if yes, the frame being emptied from the buffer to be transmitted onto the first port, the total time for emptying the input buffer and transmitting it onto the first port being less than τ/N wherein τ and N are the polling period and the number of second ports respectively.