Patent ID: 8223803

Claim:
A network device, comprising: a plurality of ingress modules, one of the plurality of ingress modules being configured to: receive an incoming stream of data over a plurality of timeslots; a plurality of egress modules; and a plurality of switches, each of the plurality of switches including a plurality of ingress links and a plurality of egress links, one of the plurality of ingress links connecting to the one of the plurality of ingress modules, and one of the plurality of egress links connecting to one of the plurality of egress modules, the first one of the plurality of timeslots being associated with the one of the plurality of ingress links, said one of the plurality of ingress modules outputting a portion of the data associated with a first one of the plurality of time slots, the portion of the data being supplied to said each of the plurality of switches; each of the plurality of switches including a corresponding one of a plurality of memories, each of the plurality of memories storing identical mapping information that maps the first one of the plurality of timeslots to a second one of the plurality of timeslots, the second one of the plurality of timeslots being associated with the one of the plurality of egress links, one of the plurality of switches being configured to: identify, based on the mapping information, the second one of the plurality of timeslots, and output the portion of the data on the one of the plurality of egress links to the one of the plurality of egress modules; where the one of the plurality of egress modules is configured to: receive the portion of the data, and output the portion of the data, during the second one of the plurality of timeslots, as a portion of an outgoing data stream.