Distributed processing ethernet switch with adaptive cut-through switching

An adaptive cut-through switching method for a packet switching system receiving and sending data from and to computer networks via a plurality of ports, the method comprising:

• forwarding received packets to destination ports before the packets have been entirely received;
• checking the validity of the packets by reference to error checking information contained in the packets;
• and
• storing future packets from a port and checking the validity of the packets prior to forwarding in response to receiving an invalid packet from the port.

An adaptive cut-through switching method for a packet switching system receiving and sending data from and to computer networks via a plurality of ports, the method comprising:

• forwarding received packets to destination ports before the packets have been entirely received:
• checking the validity of the packets;
• and
• storing and checking validity of future packets from a port prior to forwarding only for packets having source addresses from which invalid packets have been received.

An adaptive cut-through switching method for a packet switching system receiving and sending data from and to computer networks via a plurality of ports, the method comprising:

• forwarding received packets to destination ports before the packets have been entirely received;
• checking the validity of the packets;
• and
• storing and checking validity of future packets prior to forwarding every packet from a port in response to receiving an invalid packet from that port.

A switching method for a packet switching system, the method comprising:

• receiving packets from and providing packets to networks via plural ports;
• determining the validity of the packets by reference to error checking information contained in the packets;
• converting the system from store-and-forward switching to cut-through switching in response to the validity of the received packets;
• and
• converting back to cut-through switching in response to receiving a predetermined number of valid packets.