The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 03, 1994
Filed:
Jan. 26, 1993
Richard S Crouse, Boca Raton, FL (US);
John J Cazzolla, Cary, NC (US);
Luke L Chang, Boca Raton, FL (US);
Marco M Hurtado, Boca Raton, FL (US);
Kha D Nguyen, Boca Raton, FL (US);
Jose L Rivero, Baco Raton, FL (US);
Jose J Ruiz, Baco Raton, FL (US);
Louis Salcedo, Delray Beach, FL (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A serial simplex switch design is provided which includes I/O ports each of which is configurable specifically for attachment to a data communications subsystem or, alternatively, for cascaded connection to a similarly configured I/O port on another switch. The switch provides a packet routing function including input and output buffers for each of its I/O ports wherein packets of control messages sent by one subsystem are temporarily stored prior to being delivered to the appropriate destination subsystem. When configured to be directly attached to a subsystem, the I/O ports separate control messages from incoming integrated data and control message strings. In a cascade configuration, however, a mechanism is provided wherein data and control messages are separated into two physical paths to eliminate the delays associated with integrated data and control message flow through the cascaded I/O port. Each I/O port is configurable to either of these methods of operation by means of programmable latches associated with the I/O port.