System and method for flexible switching fabric

摘要

A system and method for a flexible switching fabric includes a network switching device. The network switching device includes a plurality of connectors configured to couple the network switching device to other network devices, one or more front panel cards, each front panel card including one or more first ports and configured to forward network packets between the first ports, one or more fabric cards, each fabric card including one or more second ports and configured to forward network packets between the second ports, and a port multiplexing unit configured to flexibly couple the connectors to the one or more first ports and the one or more second ports to the one or more first ports. The flexible coupling between the one or more first ports and the connectors and the one or more second ports is determined based on a desired configuration for the network switching device.

主权项

1. A network switching device comprising:
a plurality of connectors configured to couple the network switching device to other network devices; one or more front panel cards, each of the front panel cards including one or more first ports and configured to forward network packets between the first ports; one or more fabric cards, each of the fabric cards including one or more second ports and configured to forward network packets between the second ports; and a port multiplexing unit comprising:
one or more external connector connection points connecting the port multiplexing unit to the connectors;one or more front panel connection points connecting the port multiplexing unit to the one or more first ports; andone or more fabric card connection points connecting the port multiplexing unit to the one or more second ports; wherein the port multiplexing unit is configured to:
flexibly interconnect the external connector connection points to the front panel connection points; andflexibly interconnect the fabric card connection points to the front panel connection points.