Importance

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for coupling a plurality of channels of a communications network to a node. The node includes a plurality of ports, each adapted for connection to a corresponding channel and a system interface adapted for connection to a plurality of node clients in the form of host computers, peripheral devices, network interfaces, etc. The node includes a receiver and transmitter dedicated to each port and common circuitry for controlling and processing frames received and/or transmitted by the plurality of ports. A frame prioritization circuit forwards frames received by a selected port to a frame handler for processing and a frame routing circuit routes frames processed by the frame handler to at least one of the ports associated with at least one destination node. The node further includes a frame header buffer associated with each port for temporarily storing the header of each frame received by the respective port prior to forwarding of the header to the frame handler.

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First Claim