Patent ID: 7706411

Claim:
A packet switch apparatus with oversubscribed port handling capability for use in a switching mesh, the apparatus including: a plurality of ports; and a switch controller coupled to the plurality of ports, wherein the switch controller is configured to (a) detect an oversubscribed port, (b) select a set of paths exiting at the oversubscribed port for retagging, (c) invalidate tags for the set of paths, (d) receive packets with the invalidated tags, and (e) retag the received packets with a tag associated with a detour path; wherein the invalidated tags and the tags associated with the detour comprise paths assigned to respective ones of the packets and which paths individually comprise a path between an originating source switch and an end destination switch of the respective packet and which includes a plurality of different switches intermediate the originating source and end destination switches; and wherein the invalidated tags and the tags associated with the detour individually comprise a source switch identifier which identifies the originating source switch of the respective packet of the individual tag and a destination switch identifier which identifies the end destination switch of the respective packet of the individual tag.