Patent ID: 7352765

Claim:
A packet switching fabric: having a plurality of output queuing controlled switching devices coupled together by a data ring and a control ring so that network links can be communicatively coupled, each said switching device comprising: data ring processing means for transmitting and receiving bursts of data to and from adjacent ones of said devices via said data ring, network interface means having at least one network port for transmitting and receiving data packets to and from said network links, packet buffer means for storing the received data packets, source managing means communicatively coupled to said data ring processing means, and providing an interface between said network interface means and said packet buffer means, said source managing means being operative to develop pointer information for said received data packets, and also being operative to develop an associated destination one of said network ports associated with each one of said received data packets, the pointer information and the associated destination identification providing local announcement information serving as a local request for access to said associated destination network port, the pointer information and the associated destination associated with each one of said transfer packets providing transfer announcement information, control ring processing means responsive to said transfer announcement information, and operative to transmit and receive control messages to and from adjacent ones of said devices via said control ring, said control messages including announcement messages, said control ring processing means also being operative to provide received transfer announcement information in response to each received one of said announcement messages, said received transfer announcement information serving as a remote request for access to said associated destination network port, and destination managing means communicatively coupled to said network interface means, and responsive to said local announcement information and said received transfer announcement information, and operative to arbitrate between competing ones of said local and remote requests for access to each of said network ports, and also operative to generate transfer notification information associated with selected ones of said transfer data packets.