Patent ID: 7009963

Claim:
A switch of a network for switching data comprising: a fabric for switching the data; a connection mechanism connected to the fabric for providing data to and from the fabric; a first port card which receives data at a first rate from the network or sends data at the first rate to the network, the first port card connected to the connection mechanism to send data to or receive the data from the fabric at a connection rate; and a second port card which receives data at a second rate from the network or sends data at the second rate to the network, the second port card connected to the connection mechanism to send data to or receive data from the fabric at the connection rate, the second port card separating the data received at the second rate into streams of data that together equal the data received at the second port card that are sent concurrently at the connection rate to the fabric and combine the data streams received at the connection rate into data that is sent at the second rate to the network, the second port card maps the data received at the second rate onto the bus in 4 bit interleaved fashion, the connection rate equals the first rate and the second rate is equal to N times the first rate, where N is an integer equal to 4, and there are N streams.