Patent ID: 6865181

Claim:
An apparatus for flexibly transmitting data from at least a first interface card to at least a second interface card, wherein the apparatus is capable of supporting multiple types of interface cards, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of interface cards for transmitting and receiving data streams; a cross-connect unit for receiving data streams from at least one of said plurality of interface cards, combining the received data streams so a to generate at least one cross-connected data stream, and transmitting the at least one cross-connected data stream to at least one of said plurality of interface cards; a control unit for controlling the operation of the apparatus; and a backplane forming parallel data buses, including a clock recovered parallel data bus, for providing connectivity between each of said plurality of interface cards, said cross-connect unit, and said control unit, wherein the data streams are transmitted between said plurality of interface cards and said cross-connect unit over the clock recovered parallel data bus without synchronization information from an eternal source.