Stackable networking device and method having a switch control circuit

Abstract

A switch control circuit is provided in a dual speed stackable networking device for automatically bypassing a faulty exchanging unit and monitoring the voltages of the associated input end and output end to prevent the occurrence of a traffic loop. When a number of dual-speed hubs are arranged in a stack, the output end of the current switch control circuit is coupled to the input end of a switch control circuit of next adjacent dual-speed hub. On the other hand, the output end of the current switch control circuit is coupled to the input end of a switch control circuit of another adjacent dual-speed hub. The switch control circuit includes a detector for detecting the power status of the exchanging unit, a logic unit for controlling the voltages of the input end and the output end. If the exchanging unit is not functioning normally, and the voltage of the output end is set to 0, then the exchanging unit is disabled by the switch control circuit. According to the control of the switch control circuit, each dual speed stackable networking device will be automatically bypassed if it is powered off. The traffic loop can thus be efficiently avoided without having to implement the Spanning Tree Protocol in a CPU.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.