SCHEDULING PACKETS WITH MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS IN A VIRTUAL OUTPUT QUEUE NETWORK SWITCH

摘要

A system for communicating a multi-destination packet through a network switch fabric with a plurality of input and output ports is described. This system receives the multi-destination packet at an input port, wherein the multi-destination packet includes a multicast packet or a broadcast packet that is directed to multiple output ports, and wherein the network switch fabric maintains a separate virtual output queue (VOQ) for each output port. Next, the system sends the multi-destination packet from the input port to the multiple output ports by inserting the multi-destination packet into VOQs associated with the multiple output ports. The multi-destination packet is inserted into one VOQ at a time, so that after the multi-destination packet is read out of a VOQ and is sent to a corresponding output port, the multi-destination packet is inserted in another VOQ until the multi-destination packet is sent to all of the multiple output ports.

主权项

1. A method for communicating a multi-destination packet through a network switch fabric with a plurality of input and output ports, comprising:
receiving the multi-destination packet at an input port in the network switch fabric, wherein the multi-destination packet includes a multicast packet or a broadcast packet that is directed to multiple output ports, and wherein the network switch fabric has a virtual output queue (VOQ) architecture in which each input port maintains a separate VOQ for each output port; and sending the multi-destination packet from the input port to the multiple output ports by inserting the multi-destination packet into VOQs associated with the multiple output ports, wherein the multi-destination packet is inserted into one VOQ at a time, so that after the multi-destination packet is read out of a VOQ and is sent to a corresponding output port, the multi-destination packet is inserted in another VOQ until the multi-destination packet is sent to all of the multiple output ports.