METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING PORTS AND FORWARDING PACKETS IN A MULTIPORT SWITCH

摘要

A method and apparatus for routing packets through a multiport switch involves attaching indicators to packets (44) before the packets are passed through a switch fabric (40), and then using the indicators to look-up output port vectors after the packets have been passed through the switch fabric. In a preferred embodiment of a 64x64 port switch, an 8-bit output channel vector and a 15-bit output port index are attached to a packet and passed through the switch fabric. The 8-bit output channel vector directs the packet to the proper output packet processor(s) (72) and the 15-bit output port index is used to look-up an output port vector that identifies the output port(s) that will receive the packet. The method and system provide low packet overhead and flexible scaling.