ATM-port with integrated ethernet switch interface

摘要

An ATM-port module for an ATM-node having an Ethernet switch includes an ATM-controller; and an Ethernet-switch interface connecting it to the Ethernet switch. The switch has an Ethernet encapsulating-unit for encapsulating ATM cells processes by the ATM-controller into packets for transmission to the switch, and an Ethernet decapsulating-unit for extracting ATM cells from packets received from the switch. The module further includes a segmentation-and-reassembly unit; and a buffering-and-scheduling unit. The buffering-and-scheduling unit provides a processed enlarged-ATM-cell to the encapsulating-unit when an indication flag indicates that an ATM port is a destination port of the enlarged ATM-cell; and a processed enlarged-ATM-cell to the segmentation-and-reassembly unit when an indication flag indicates that an Ethernet port is the enlarged ATM-cell's destination port.