Method and apparatus for routing packets in a multinode computer interconnect network

摘要

A method for routing user packets in a multinode interconnect network is disclosed. Each packet has a destination node (10). Each node (10) is connected by input and output lines (12) and has a plurality of packet storage links (34) and (56-60). Each link (34) and (56-60) is connected to an input line (18-24) and has a number of packet storage buffers (38-44) and is connectable to any of the node's output lines (26-32). During operation node (10) uses a set of routing instructions and a look-up table (192) to determine which user packets are sent out on which output lines (26-32). The routing rules determine which output line is connected to the shortest path to the destination node, and ensure that the node (10) will always have an empty storage buffer (38-44) for each input line (18-24) for receiving further user packets.