High performance crossbar switch
AssigneeMcData Corporation
InventorsJeffrey J. Nelson, Ken N. Jessop
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A switch having a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports and a crossbar device programmably coupling a first of the I/O ports with a second of the I/O ports. A plurality of port request controllers (PRCs) are coupled such that each PRC is associated with one of the I/O ports. A plurality of serial request busses are arranged such that each serial request bus couples each PRC with its associated port. A plurality of serial response busses are coupled such that each serial response bus coupling each PRC with its associated PRC. In operation, the serial request and response busses operate independently in a non-blocking fashion to process connection and clear requests in parallel.
Claims24
A switch comprising:
- a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports;
- a crossbar device programmably coupling a first of the I/O ports with a second of the I/O ports;
- a plurality of port request controllers (PRC's) wherein each PRC is associated with one of the I/O ports;
- a plurality of serial request busses, wherein each serial request bus couples each PRC with its associated port;
- and
- a plurality of serial response busses wherein each serial response bus couples each port with its associated PRC.
A switch comprising:
- a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports;
- a crossbar device programmably coupling a first of the I/O ports with a second of the I/O ports;
- a plurality of port request controllers (PRC's) wherein each PRC is associated with one of the I/O ports;
- a plurality of serial request busses, wherein each serial request bus couples each PRC with its associated port;
- a plurality of serial response busses wherein each serial response bus couples each port with its associated PRC;
- and
- a last connected port mechanism associated with each I/O port comprising storage for holding an identifier of one of the I/O ports to which the associated I/O port was last connected.
A switch comprising:
- a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports;
- a crossbar device programmably coupling a first of the I/O ports with a second of the I/O ports;
- a plurality of port request controllers (PRC's) wherein each PRC is associated with one of the I/O ports;
- a plurality of serial request busses, wherein each serial request bus couples each PRC with its associated port;
- a plurality of serial response busses wherein each serial response bus couples each port with its associated PRC;
- a busy bit logic unit comprising storage for holding busy status information on a port-by-port basis wherein the busy bit logic unit further comprises a last connected port interface for providing information on a port-by-port basis to each of the plurality of PRCs about the I/O port that was last connected to the port associated with the PRC.
A method for controlling a cross bar switch comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports;
- generating a first connection request in a first of the plurality of I/O ports;
- generating a second connection request in a second of the plurality of I/O ports;
- and
- concurrently processing the first and second connection requests.
A controller for a crossbar switch for connecting a first port to at least one other port in response to a request generated by the first port, the controller comprising:
- a serial request bus coupled to the first port to transport the request;
- a port request controller (PRC) associated with the first port and coupled to the serial request bus to receive the request;
- and
- a first busy bit logic section associated with the first port and each other port and coupled to the PRC to indicate availability status of the destination.
A controller for a crossbar switch for connecting a first port to at least one other port in response to a requested generated by the first port, the controller comprising:
- a serial request bus coupled to the first port to transport the request;
- a port request controllers (PRC) associated with the first port and coupled to the serial request bus to receive the request;
- a first busy bit logic section associated with the first port and each other port and coupled to the PRC to indicate availability status of the a destination;
- and
- a last connected port bus coupled to the PRC and each other port to indicate any of the other ports that was last connected to the source port.
A communication system comprising:
- a plurality of network devices, each device having a node for communicating with external devices;
- a switch having a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports;
- a communication channel coupling each of the plurality of nodes to one of the I/O ports of the switch;
- a crossbar device within the switch operable to programmably couple a selected source I/O port with a selected destination I/O port;
- a plurality of port request controllers (PRCs) wherein each PRC is associated with a selected one of the I/O ports;
- a plurality of serial request busses, wherein each serial request bus couples a selected one PRC with its associated port;
- and
- a plurality of serial response busses wherein each serial response bus couples a selected one port with its associated PRC.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.