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US 2008/0279166 A1Published application
Wireless-aware network switch
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsClark A. CARTY, James M. CISAR, James A. AMOS, Steven M. CLOUD, Robert A. BOWSER, Gordon MACKAY
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An application-specific integrated circuit and related network switch are disclosed. The integrated circuit includes switch circuitry for receiving a 802.11 wireless data frame and forwarding it to a predetermined port. Inspection circuitry is provided for inspecting attributes of the data frame. Decision circuitry is provided for instructing the switch circuitry to forward the data frame based on the attributes, both 802.3 wired and 802.11 wireless.
Claims20
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), comprising:
- switch circuitry for receiving a data frame from a first port and forwarding it to a selected access point on a predetermined port selected from a plurality of access points associated with a plurality of predetermined ports;
- conversion circuitry in communication with the switch circuitry for converting a data frame between a first protocol and a second protocol;
- and
- a memory mapped interface accessible to the plurality of wireless access points in data communication with the switch circuitry;
- wherein the conversion circuitry converts the data frame from a first protocol to a second protocol and the switch circuitry stores the converted data frame in the memory mapped interface in a memory corresponding to the selected access point;
- and
- wherein the switch circuitry is configured to transfer the data frame from the memory area associated with the selected access point to a second memory area corresponding to a second of the plurality of access points responsive to determining that a wireless client to receive the data frame has roamed from the first access point to the second of the plurality of access points.
4 more elements
A network switch comprising:
- a first port configured to send and receive data frames configured in accordance with a first protocol;
- a plurality of ports for connecting to a plurality of wireless access points, configured to send and receive data frames in accordance with a second protocol;
- a application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) comprising switch circuitry for receiving a data frame on the first port and forwarding it to one of the plurality of ports;
- a memory mapped interface accessible to a plurality of wireless access points in data communication with the ASIC;
- a forwarding table for maintaining a list of media access control addresses of wireless clients associated with the plurality of wireless access points;
- and
- a conversion circuit for converting a data frame received on the first port from the first protocol to the second protocol;
- wherein the switch circuitry stores packets for the plurality of wireless access points in the memory mapped interface and provides Media Access Control layer processors associated with the plurality of access points with access to the packets;
- and
- wherein the switch circuitry is configured to transfer the data frame from the memory area associated with a first of the plurality of access point to a second memory area corresponding to a second of the plurality of access points responsive to determining that a wireless client to receive the data frame has roamed from the first access point to the second of the plurality of access points.
7 more elements
A method, comprising:
- receiving a data frame on a first port;
- converting the data frame from a first protocol to a second protocol;
- storing the data frame in a memory mapped interface that accessible to a plurality of wireless access points, wherein the data frame is stored in an area of the memory associated with a destination access point;
- and
- forwarding the data frame to the destination access point and retaining a copy of the data frame in the memory mapped interface after the data frame is transmitted until an acknowledgement for the data frame is received by a Media Access Control processor associated with the destination wireless access point.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.