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:
Nov. 08, 2005
Filed:
May. 08, 2000
Michael Wong, Fremont, CA (US);
Rajesh Nair, San Jose, CA (US);
Milan Momirov, San Francisco, CA (US);
Michael Wong, Fremont, CA (US);
Rajesh Nair, San Jose, CA (US);
Milan Momirov, San Francisco, CA (US);
Nortel Networks Limited, St. Laurent, CA;
Abstract
The present apparatus and method of use comprises a system that enables a cell of data to be transmitted one time over a high speed data bus to an switch system where it is then distributed to each of the destinations for which it is intended. A fabric access device and a multiplex devices are each formed to have groups of buffers for buffering signals according to type. The first group of buffers is for temporarily storing data that is to be delivered to only one destination. The second group of buffers is for holding the cells that are to be transmitted to a plurality of devices. In those embodiments in which the unicast and multicast cells are transmitted over the same line or bus a parsing unit examines a field within the header portion of each cell to determine whether the cell is a unicast or multicast cell. If the cell is a unicast cell, it is temporarily stored within the unicast receive buffer set. If the cell is a multicast cell, then it is temporarily stored in the multicast buffer set. A memory whose contents include a table that is used for addressing purposes for the multicast cells.