METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FLEXIBLE INTERFACE BYPASS OPTIONS IN SWITCHES

摘要

A network switching module (12) includes N communication port modules (104-0,..., 104-5) that send and receive data packets that include physical layer addresses. A switch core module (20) routes the data packets between N-2 of the communication port modules based on the physical layer addresses. A bypass module (110) selectively routes the data packets between two of the communication port modules (104-4A, 104-4B) such that the data packets bypass the switch core module (20). N is an integer greater than or equal to 4.