ATM NETWORK SWITCH HAVING ENHANCED CALL SETUP CAPABILITY

摘要

An ATM network switch (100) includes a plurality of slot controllers (112a-h) each coupled to a switch fabric (114) and an external link (116a-h). In addition, each slot controller (112a-h) is coupled to a system controller (122) via a LAN (120). A processor of each slot controller (112a-h) is programmed to forward Q.2931 messages to the system controller (122) via the LAN (120) and to receive information from the system controller (122) via the LAN (120). The system controller (122) is programmed to interpret the Q.2931 messages, update the routing tables of the slot controllers (112a-h) via the LAN (120), and forward a packet containing the Q.2931 messages to an appropriate slot controller (112a-h) via the LAN (120) whereafter the slot controller (112a-h) assembles ATM cells containing the Q.2931 messages for transmission.