Method for translating an ATM switch cell header

A digital data switch for translating and routing an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell having a header that includes a VPI field identifying a virtual path number, and a VCI field identifying a virtual channel within the virtual path, said switch comprising:

• a first major table configured to store indexation fields relative to virtual channel (VC) mode circuits;
• a second major table configured to store indexation fields relative to virtual path (VP) mode circuits;
• and
• a general purpose page block configured to store an indirect addressing context page configured to catalog and address VC mode and VP mode context pages stored in the general purpose page block,
• wherein, in a VC switching mode, the VC context pages are addressed by way of the indirect addressing context page on the basis of the first major table and the VCI field,
• wherein, in a VP switching mode, the VP context pages are addressed on the basis of context page numbers contained in the second major table;
• and wherein all context pages have a substantially identical size.

A digital data switch for translating and routing an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell having a header that includes a VPI field identifying a virtual path number, and a VCI field identifying a virtual channel number within the virtual path, said switch comprising:

• means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual channel (VC) mode circuits;
• means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual path (VP) mode circuits;
• and
• means for cataloging and addressing VC mode and VP mode context pages stored in a general purpose page block,
• wherein, in a VC switching mode, the VC context pages are addressed by way of the means for cataloging and addressing on the basis of the means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual channel (VC) mode circuits and the VCI field,
• wherein, in a VP switching mode, the VP context pages are addressed on the basis of context page numbers contained in the means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual path (VP) mode circuits;
• and wherein all context pages have a substantially identical size.

A computer-readable medium for use in translating and routing an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell, the cell having a header that includes a virtual path identification field (VPI) field and a virtual channel identification (VCI) field, the computer-readable medium comprising:

• a first table configured to store data for identifying one or more indirect addressing context pages;
• a virtual channel context page configured to store a context area M3;
• and
• an indirect addressing context page configured to store an address M2 to identify the virtual channel context page,
• wherein, in a virtual channel mode, the first table is used to locate a pointer M1 by using portions of the VPI field;
• the indirect addressing context page is located by using the pointer M1;
• the address M2 is located by using the pointer M1, a portion of the VPI field, and a portion of the VCI field;
• and the context area M3 is located by using the address M2 and a portion of the VCI field.

A method for translating an ATM cell header for the routing thereof on a transmission highway of a communication network via an ATM switch, the header of the cell comprising a first field VPI and a second field VCI, the first field VPI identifying a virtual path (VP) number and the second field VCI selecting a specified virtual channel (VC) within the virtual path, said process comprising:

• storing indirect addressing context page numbers for virtual circuits in VC switching mode in a first major table,
• storing context page numbers for virtual circuits in VP switching mode in a second major table,
• storing context page numbers for virtual circuits in VC switching mode in indirect addressing context pages,
• addressing the context pages of virtual circuits in VC switching mode by way of an indirect addressing context page on the basis of the first major table and of the field VCI, and
• addressing the context pages of the VP switching mode on the basis of context page numbers contained in the second major table, wherein the size of one of the context pages is substantially similar to the size of another of the context pages.

A digital data switch for translating and routing an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell having a header that includes a VPI field identifying a virtual path number and a VCI field identifying a virtual channel within the virtual path, said switch comprising:

• a first major table configured to store indexation fields relative to virtual channel (VC) mode circuits;
• a second major table configured to store indexation fields relative to virtual path (VP) mode circuits;
• and
• a general purpose page block to store an indirect addressing context page configured to catalog and address VC mode context pages stored in the general purpose page block,
• wherein, in a VC switching mode, the VC context pages are addressed by way of the indirect addressing context page on the basis of the first major table and the VCI field,
• wherein, in a VP switching mode, VP context pages are addressed on the basis of context page numbers contained in the second major table, and
• wherein the size of one of the context pages is substantially similar to the size of another of the context pages.

A digital data switch for translating and routing an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell having a header that includes a VPI field identifying a virtual path number and a VCI field identifying a virtual channel within the virtual path, said switch comprising:

• means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual channel (VC) mode circuits;
• means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual path (VP) mode circuits;
• and
• means for cataloging and addressing VC mode context pages stored in the general purpose page block,
• wherein, in a VC switching mode, the VC context pages are addressed by way of the means for cataloging and addressing on the basis of the means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual channel (VC) mode circuits and the VCI field,
• wherein, in a VP switching mode, VP context pages are addressed on the basis of context page numbers contained in the means for storing indexation fields relative to virtual path (VP) mode circuits, and
• wherein the size of one of the context pages is substantially similar to the size of another of the context pages.

A computer-readable medium for use in translating and routing an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell having a header that includes a VPI field identifying a virtual path number and a VCI field identifying a virtual channel number within the virtual path, said computer-readable medium comprising:

• a first major table configured to store indexation fields relative to virtual channel (VC) mode circuits;
• a second major table configured to store indexation fields relative to virtual path (VP) mode circuits;
• and
• a general purpose page block to store an indirect addressing context page configured to catalog and address VC mode context pages stored in the general purpose page block,
• wherein, in a VC switching mode, the VC context pages are addressed by way of the indirect addressing context page on the basis of the first major table and the VCI field,
• wherein, in a VP switching mode, VP context pages are addressed on the basis of context page numbers contained in the second major table, and
• wherein the size of one of the context pages is substantially similar to the size of another of the context pages.