Importance

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Abstract

A switch that includes inputs for receiving cells connected to a first storage means for storing the cells received at the inputs. The first storage means includes a plurality of portions in which each portion is associated with an input. Additionally, each portion has a number of segments in which a cell may be stored. Additionally, the switch includes an address translation means for assigning a destination from a plurality of destinations to each cell received at the inputs. A second storage means is included in the switch. This second storage means has a number of sections in which each section is associated with a destination within the plurality of destinations and each section includes a number of segments. For each cell assigned a destination, the second storage means stores information identifying the location of the cell within the first storage means. This information is stored in a segment in the section associated with the destination assigned to the cell. A reading means is employed to transfer cells from the first storage means to their destinations by accessing each section within the second storage means to obtain information to identify the location of the cell in the first storage means that should be transferred to the destination associated with a particular section in the second storage means. The information within each section in the storage means is accessed in a first-in-first-out basis.

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First Claim