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. 16, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 22, 1997
Dennis Albert Doidge, Apex, NC (US);
Jim P Ervin, Raleigh, NC (US);
Douglas Ray Henderson, Raleigh, NC (US);
Edward Hau-chun Ku, Cary, NC (US);
Pramod Narottambhai Patel, Cary, NC (US);
Loren Blair Reiss, Raleigh, NC (US);
Thomas Eric Ryle, Raleigh, NC (US);
Joseph M Rash, Wake Forest, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A multiported LAN switch comprised of legacy local area network ports and ATM ports. Each ATM port comprising a hardware forwarding engine for bridging LAN frames from the LAN ports to the ATM port. The hardware forwarding engine converts layer 2 protocols between the dissimilar ports expediently, without requiring intervention by a microprocessor. A substantial performance gain is attained compared to microprocessor controlled format converters. Both LAN emulation and virtual LANs are supported.