Patent ID: 7006531

Claim:
An apparatus for preparing arriving, SPE-sourced data (data obtained from a Synchronous Payload Envelope of a SONET transmission) for subsequent transmission through a switch fabric, where said switch fabric produces data read requests at a request rate independent of an arrival rate at which the arriving SPE-sourced data arrives for next being transmitted to the switch fabric, the apparatus comprising: (a) a buffer for receiving the arriving SPE-sourced data; and (b) means for: (b.1) receiving a request from the switch fabric to transmit to the switch fabric, current contents of said buffer in a payload data unit (PDU) carryable by the switch fabric; (b.2) transferring a currently buffered length of SPE-sourced data from said buffer into said payload data unit (PDU), and (b.3) transmitting to said switch fabric, said payload data unit (PDU) containing the transferred length of SPE-sourced data along with an indication of the length of the transferred length of SPE-sourced, where said indication can indicate a zero length.