Patent ID: 8392645

Claim:
A switch system connectable to a first I/O device, a second I/O device and a third I/O device, the switch system comprising a first switch and a second switch; the first switch comprising: a first bus, a first bridge connected to the first bus for receiving a packet from the first I/O device and transmitting the received packet to the first bus, the first bridge being capable of transmitting a request to the first bus so as to inquire whether there is any bridge addressed by the packet via the first bus, the first bridge being capable of receiving an acknowledgement from any bridge addressed by the packet via the first bus before transmitting the packet to the first bus, a second bridge connected to the first bus for receiving the packet from the first bridge via the first bus, comparing address information of the second bridge with address information included in the packet, and transmitting the packet to the second I/O device when the address information of the second bridge matches with the address information included in the packet, and a third bridge connected to the first bus for receiving the packet from the first bridge via the first bus and transmitting the packet to the second switch; the second switch comprising: a second bus, a fourth bridge which receives the packet from the third bridge and transmits the packet via the second bus, and a fifth bridge which receives the packet from the fourth bridge via the second bus, compares address information of the fifth bridge with address information included in the packet, and transmits the packet to the third I/O device when the address information of the fifth bridge matches with the address information included in the packet; the first switch has a table including address information of the fifth bridge, and the first bridge determines whether the address information included in the packet matches with the address information of the fifth bridge in reference to the table, and transmits the packet to the fifth bridge when the address information included in the packet matches with the address information of the fifth bridge.