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:
Sep. 14, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 08, 1996
Kurt Dobbins, Bedford, NH (US);
Kris Dobbins, Goffstown, NH (US);
Len Cormier, Leominster, MA (US);
Kevin Yohe, Nashua, NH (US);
William Haggerty, Dunstable, MA (US);
Paul Simoneau, Londonderry, NH (US);
Rich Soczewinski, Windham, NH (US);
Cabletron Systems, Inc., Rochester, NH (US);
Abstract
An interconnecting apparatus includes one or more interfaces. Each interface connects to a network. The interconnecting apparatus interconnects the networks attached to the interfaces. The device utilizes distributed autonomous forwarding engines on each interface in that each interface has a forwarding engine corresponding to it. Each forwarding engine only knows the configuration information and how to receive and transmit packets on the one interface to which it corresponds. Each forwarding engine acts independently to process packets, yet each interacts together to collectively provide packet forwarding which is protocol independent, interface independent, and scalable.