Patent Document ID: 20050073963
Application ID: 10751930
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A network unit for use in a switching fabric comprising a plurality of network units each having ports for the reception and forwarding of data packets, each unit having at least one fabric port connected to a partner port on another one of the network units by at least one of a multiplicity of links which interconnect the network units; wherein said network unit is organized: (a) to store a table which for each network unit in the switching fabric indicates a respective change identification number; (b) on the detection of a change in operational status relating to the unit to increment the unit's change identification number; (c) to broadcast protocol packets which indicate the incremented change identification number; (d) to receive corresponding packets from the other units; (e) to updates said table in accordance with incremented values; and (f) to determine when the last change identification numbers in said table are the same for all the units.