Patent ID: 8345702

Claim:
A network switching module comprising: a first communication port module configured to send and receive data packets; a second plurality of communication port modules each configured to send and receive data packets using a respectively different communication interface; N additional communication port modules each configured to send and receive data packets, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to two; a mode switch configured to select one port module of the second plurality of communication port modules in response to an interface control signal, wherein remaining ones of the second plurality of communication port modules are inactive; a switch core module configured to, when a bypass mode is not selected, route the data packets between and among the first communication port module, the selected second communication port module, and the N additional communication port modules based on physical layer addresses of the data packets; a multiplexer configured to, when the bypass mode is not selected, connect the first communication port module and the selected second communication port module to the switch core module; and a bypass module configured to, when the bypass mode is selected, route data packets between the first communication port module and the selected second communication port module such that the data packets of the first communication port module and the selected second communication port module bypass the switch core module, wherein the switch core module is configured to, when the bypass mode is selected, continue routing the data packets only between the N additional communication port modules, and wherein the bypass module is configured to, when the bypass mode is selected, route all of the data packets from the first communication port module to the selected second communication port module, and route all of the data packets from the selected second communication port module to the first communication port module.