TDM switching system and ASIC device

A switching system for switching data between a plurality of network interfaces, comprising:

• a backplane;
• and
• a plurality of cards coupled to the backplane, each card comprising a plurality of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices, each ASIC device associated with a subset of the plurality of network interfaces and operable to switch data received from an associated incoming network interface for communication to an outgoing network interface, wherein:
• at least one ASIC device on a first particular card is an internally switching ASIC device operable to communicate switched data to an outgoing network interface associated with the card without using the backplane;
• remaining ASIC devices on the card are externally switching ASIC devices, each of the externally switching ASIC devices operable to communicate switched data to one or more other cards, using the backplane, for communication to one or more outgoing network interfaces associated with the other cards;
• and
• the system is operable to support 16,384 network interfaces and the card comprises four externally switching ASIC devices each associated with a specified 4,096 of the 16,384 network interfaces.

A card for operation in a switching system comprising a backplane and a plurality of cards coupled to the backplane, the system operable to switch data between a plurality of network interfaces, the card comprising:

• a plurality of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices, each ASIC device associated with a subset of the plurality of network interfaces and operable to switch data received from an associated incoming network interface for communication to an outgoing network interface;
• wherein at least one ASIC device on the card is an internally switching ASIC device operable to communicate switched data to an outgoing network interface also associated with the card without using the backplane;
• wherein the remaining ASIC devices on the card are externally switching ASIC devices, each externally switching ASIC device operable to communicate switched data to one or more other cards in the system, using the backplane, for communication to one or more outgoing network interfaces associated with the other cards;
• and
• wherein the system is operable to support 16,384 network interfaces and the card comprises four externally switching ASIC devices each associated with a specified 4,096 of the 16,384 network interfaces.

A method for switching data within switching system from a first bus to a second bus using at least one application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) device, comprising:

• storing a plurality of data processing operations;
• storing a data processing code for each of a plurality of first time slots, each code operable to combine with corresponding data from the first bus to specify one of the stored data processing operations;
• communicating the code for each first time slot;
• receiving the combined data and code for each first time slot;
• applying the specified data processing operation for each first time slot to the data for each first time slot to generate modified data for each first time slot;
• storing information specifying one of a plurality of second time slots associated with the second bus to correspond to each first time slot;
• communicating the information specifying the second time slot corresponding to each first time slot as an address;
• sequentially storing the modified data for each first time slot of a previous frame in a first portion of a random access memory (RAM) comprising at least first and second portions;
• sequentially storing the modified data for each first time slot of a current frame in the second portion of the RAM;
• locating the modified data for each first time slot of the previous frame in the first portion of the RAM according to the address specifying the second time slot corresponding to the first time slot;
• and
• communicating the modified data for each first time slot of the previous frame from the first portion of the RAM to the second bus in the corresponding second time slot while the modified data for the current frame is being stored in the second portion of the RAM.

A method for switching data between a plurality of network interfaces in a switching system comprising a backplane and a plurality of cards, each card comprising a plurality of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices operable to switch data received from an associated incoming network interface for communication to an outgoing network interface, the method comprising:

• receiving data at an ASIC device on a first particular card from an incoming network interface associated with the card;
• switching the data using the ASIC device;
• communicating switched data to an outgoing network interface associated with the card, without using the backplane, if the ASIC device is an internally switching ASIC device;
• and
• communicating switched data to an outgoing network interface associated with another card, using the backplane, if the ASIC device is one of a plurality of externally switching ASIC devices;
• wherein the system supports 16,384 network interfaces and the externally switching ASIC device is one of four externally switching ASIC devices on the particular card, each externally switching ASIC device associated with a specified 4,096 of the 16,384 network interfaces.