Patent ID: 8665875

Claim:
A network device comprising: a receive buffer manager (RBM), configured to transmit a packet of a plurality of packets to a switch fabric by virtue of comprising an RBM packet receive stage, wherein the RBM packet receive stage is configured to be coupled to a pipelined switch, and the RBM packet receive stage is further configured to receive a plurality of portions of each of the plurality of packets, an RBM packet transmit stage, wherein the RBM packet transmit stage is configured to be coupled to the switch fabric, an RBM buffer, coupled to the RBM packet receive stage and the RBM packet transmit stage, wherein the RBM buffer is configured to receive the plurality of packets from the pipelined switch, and an RBM queue manager, coupled to control the RBM packet receive stage and the RBM packet transmit stage, wherein the RBM queue manager is configured to cause the packet to be conveyed from the pipelined switch to the switch fabric via the RBM buffer, using at least one of the plurality of portions of the packet.