Patent ID: 7782849

Claim:
A switch fabric for switching variable length data packets between input and output transmission paths without padding or additional segment header information, the switch fabric comprising: a strip memory comprising a plurality of memory strips, the capacity of each memory strip equal to a memory strip length; a link list to store a plurality of entries respectively associated with the plurality of memory strips; and an enqueue engine to store the variable length data packets received via the input transmission paths into the memory strips, wherein, when a length of a short data packet does not exceed the memory strip length, the enqueue engine stores the short data packet in one selected memory strip, and stores, in the link list entry associated with the one selected memory strip, an indication that the one selected memory strip stores the last portion of the short data packet and a length of the stored short data packet; and wherein, when a length of a long data packet exceeds the memory strip length, the enqueue engine stores the long data packet in two or more selected memory strips, and stores, in the link list entry associated with each of the two or more selected memory strips except a last memory strip storing the end of the long packet, an address pointer to another of the two or more selected memory strips that stores a subsequent portion of the data packet, and stores, in the link list entry associated with the last memory strip, an indication that the last memory strip stores the last portion of the long data packet and a length of the stored portion of the long data packet.