Patent ID: 8724623

Claim:
A method for networking, the method comprising: within a switch fabric of a network switching device, wherein the switch fabric comprises a plurality of communication cards, wherein each communication card comprises: an external interface component that is operable to communicate packets external to said switching device; a wired internal interface component that is operable to communicate data from and/or to said each communication card within said switching device over wired connection; and a wireless internal interface component that is operable to communicate data from and/or to said each communication card within said switching device over a wireless connection; the method comprising: selectively communicating information, or data, or both, between two or more communications ports within said network switching device via one or more wireless internal interfaces within said network switching device; and selectively communicating at least some of the information, or the data, or both, instead via one or more switchable wired interfaces in said network switching device; wherein one or more wired interfaces in said network switching device are bypassed and the information, or data, or both, are communicated through said one or more wireless interfaces; wherein a determination to communicate the information, or data, or both through the wireless interfaces is based on factors comprising: available communication speed, available bandwidth, or quality of service (QoS).