Importance

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Abstract

A packet routing apparatus allows numerous packets to be routed simultaneously through a mesh connected network. The network consists of a number of interconnected switches which are coupled, in turn, to the hosts that are members of the local network. The switches are nonblocking switches that are coupled to each other and to the hosts by a multiplicity of point to point links. Each switch has a routing mechanism for automatically routing received packets toward their specified destinations. For each received packet the router generates a routing mask representing the output links that may be used to route the packet towards its destination. The routing mask includes a broadcast bit. If the broadcast bit is ON, the packet must be simultaneously routed to all of the output links specified by the routing mask. If the broadcast bit is OFF, the packet may be routed on any single one of the links specified by the routing mask. To ensure that every packet makes progress towards its destination, packets are processed in the order of their arrival by placing the corresponding routing masks in a queue. Periodically, the set of available output links is compared with all of the routing masks. Using a first come, first considered routing discipline, the first routing mask in the queue to match the available output lines is selected. A routing selection is then generated for the corresponding packet and the selected routing mask is removed from the queue.

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First Claim