Cselt-centro Studi E Laboratori Telecomunicazioni S.p.a.

Riccardo Melen

Vinicio Vercellone

Giuseppe Giandonato

Gian P Balboni

A fast packet switching system has an interconnection network associated with a distributed control structure composed of a plurality of processing units (UC1-1 . . . UC3-16) managing the routing at the virtual call level. At least some processing units each associated with a group of network inputs/outputs store bandwidth occupancy data relevant to the interstage links which can be reached from the inputs of the group and are included between the inputs and a central network stage where there is a maximum number of alternative paths or, respectively, bandwidth occupancy data relevant to interstage links which lead to the outputs of the group and are included between the stage and the output, the data being updated whenever a new call is routed. When a virtual call is to be routed, the processing units associated with the input or respectively the output involved in the connection, evaluate a cost function of the connection along the portion of each of the possible routing paths included between the input and the stage where there is the maximum number of alternative paths, or for the portion of each routing path included between such stage and the output. The results of the evaluations carried out by these units are combined in one of the units which determined a global cost function for the individual connection paths and forwards the call on the path presenting the minimum cost function.

Routing method for fast packet switching systems

The switching element for self-routing multistage packet-switching interconnection networks comprises: an input unit, composed of as many sections (IMA, IMB) as the element inputs are, each section comprising a FIFO memory (FIFA, FIFB) for packet buffering; a switch (SW) associated with a control unit (SCU) which, for each packet to be forwarded, sets up the connection requested for that packet between one input and one or more outputs of the element (ECP), on the ground of a routing tag associated with each packet and comprising a first and a second portion relative to normal routing and to broadcasting in the different stages of the network (RC), and solves possible routing conflicts between packets simultaneously arriving at different inputs; and an output unit, composed of as many sections (RU0, RU1) as the element outputs are and performing the whole of the functions necessary for the correct packet forwarding towards a destination. The control unit (SCU) of the switch (SW) is arranged to handle broadcasting of a packet independently of all other elements (EDP) in the same stage, so as to allow broadcasting also to a number of destinations different from a power of 2 (for an element with two inputs and two outputs) and cooperates with the memory (FIF) storing the packet to be broadcast in such a way that broadcasting does not give rise to internal blocking in the network (RC). Said control unit (SCU) moreover solves routing conflicts so as to set an upper bound to packet permanence time within the network (FIG. 2).

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Turin, Italy

Riccardo Melen