Patent ID: 7782891

Claim:
A network switch for network communications, said network switch comprising: a communication channel comprising: a cell channel configured to communicate data from at least one packet between a first data port interface, a second data port interface, a third data port interface, a first internal memory, and a first memory management unit; a protocol channel configured to communicate a message header defining a message type of the at least one packet between the first data port interface, the second data port interface, the third data port interface, the first internal memory, and the first memory management unit, the message type controlling the data communicated on the cell channel; and a sideband channel configured to communicate status information, independently of the cell channel and the protocol channel, associated with the first data port interface, the second data port interface, the third data port interface, the first internal memory, and the first memory management unit; the first memory management unit configured to direct data from one of said first data port interface, said second data port interface, and said third data port interface to one of said first internal memory and an external memory interface; and an appending unit configured to append a module identification header comprising an identification bitmap that identifies other network switches to which the data packet should be sent via the third data port interface.