Network switch utilizing centralized and partitioned memory for connection topology information storage

摘要

A network switch utilizing centralized and partitioned memory for storing connection topology information. The switch includes at least one input port (14), at least one output port (18) and a central switch fabric (28) interconnecting the input port and output port, with the connection topology memory centralized at the switch fabric. The central switch fabric includes at least one input side translator (24) associated with a predetermined number of input ports and at least one output port side translator (40) associated with a predetermined number of output ports. The connection topology memory (26, 44) is distributed among the at least one input side translator and the at least one output side translator. With this arrangement, memory bandwidth requirements associated with connection topology look-up operations are distributed and scaling the number of ports is facilitated.