NZ223781A - Packet switching network: packets divided on receipt and rebuilt on transmission - Google Patents

Description

P:i !% ~J 5 22 3 7 8 1 Specification Filed: .V.9^ I /"*" put,....«9.JA.N.!5S0.... o NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "A DIGITAL SWITCHING SYSTEM" *. n .

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WE, STANDARD TELEPHONES AND CA3LES PTY. LIMITED, A Company of the State of New South Wales, of 252-280 Botany Road, Alexandria, New South Wales, 2015, Australia, hereby declare the Invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 1 This Invention relates to a switching system including a plurality of input terminals connected to receiver means able to receive packets of digital signals therefrom and to divide each of said packets Into a plurality of sub-packets; control means to which at least one sub-packet of each of said packets and containing routing information Is applied; a plurality of memories allocated to respective sub-packets of each of said packets, said sub-packets being loaded into and unloaded from said memories under the control of said control means; and transmitter means which are connected to a plurality of output terminals and to which said unloaded sub-packets are supplied, said transmitter means being able to rebuild a packet from its sub-packets and to transmit said rebuilt packet to at least one terminal indicated by said routing information. circuits working in parallel on each sub-packet, and is already known in the art, e.g. from the published U.S. patent No. ^,603>^l6 and from the article "Reseaux de transfert en videocommunication - La commutation de paquets" by M. Servel and A. Thomas published in "L'echo des RECHERCHES", No 115, 1st quarter 198*1, pages 33 to 40. In this system a counter forming part of the control means generates a write pointer which is identical for each memory and indicates the location wherein an Incoming sub-packet has to be loaded. This write pointer is Increased at the rhythm of a Such a switching system enables the use of lower speed 2 2237 tine base also forming part of the control means. 4s a result, homologous sub-packets of the incoming packets are loaded sequentially in the corresponding memories. The control means also include a plurality of queues, one for each 5 output terminal, containing the addresses of the memory lo cations wherein sub-packets intended for the corresponding output terminal are loaded, the latter being available to the control means from the routing Information. To output the sub-packets, each of these queues is read sequentially, and 10 the contents of the addressed locations In the memories are transmitted to the transmitter means and so further to the intended output terminals.

A possible drawback of this known system is that If sub-packets would not be read sufficiently fast, they would be 15 overwritten the next tine the write pointer addresses the location containing them. As a consequence not only the previously stored sub-packets of a packet would be lost, but moreover when later on their address Is read from the queue wrong sub-packets, le. those then present in that memory lo-20 cation, would be sent to the corresponding output terminal.

This may Impose f.i. restrictions on the allowable traffic on any output terminal in function of the maximum possible reading speed.

The Invention Is based on the insight that it is pos-25 sible to provide a system of the above type but without impos- 2 6 " " J 3 \ - ^ Ing such speed requirements while permitting the use of simpler control means.

This is achieved by sub-dividing each of said memories into a plurality of storage areas allocated to respective ones of said output terminals and that said control means, under the control of said routing Information, load the sub-packets of a packet to be transmitted to said indicated output terminal Into the storage areas allocated thereto.

In this way, each output terminal having Its allocated storage area, contrary to the case outlined above the sub-packets intended for a particular output terminal can never be wrongly routed. Furthermore, the control means require no queues for storing the addresses of the sub-packets in the memories so that they are relatively simple.

Preferably the receiver means Include a plurality of receiver circuits to which a respective input terminal Is connected and which are each able to divide a packet received from said connected Input terminal into said plurality of sub-packets .

In this way, a fault in a receiver circuit only affects the packets routed through this receiver circuit and not the transmission of other packets.

The above mentioned and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent and the Invention itself will be best understood by referring to the following description of an embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which: '•'V 4 3 ' °£c ,'SSJ i / V 22 3 7 Fig. 1 represents a switching system SW according to the invention; and Pig. 2 represents the control circuit CC1 of Pig. 1 in more detail.

A plurality of switching systems SW such as the one shown in Fig. I are for Instance Interconnected to constitute the switching network of a telecommunication system of the type generally known as Broadband Integrated Services Dta Network (3-ISDN) to which user stations are coupled via Asynchronous Time Division (ATD) transmission links. The bit-rate at which the signals are transferred on these transmission links may be freely chosen with a maximum value of about 560 Mega-bits/second. These signals may be voice, computer data or video and are transmitted through the switching systems SW of the switching network under the form of packets of digital signals. Each packet has a fixed length of, e.g., 8 x 16 = 128 bits and comprises a header and data.

The switching system SW has 16 Input terminals R1 to Rl6 and 16 output terminals T1 to Tl6 of which only the first Rl/Tl and the last R16/T16 ones are shown in Fig. 1, and Includes control means CM mainly adapted to control the transfer packets of digital signals supplied to any of the 22 57 8 1 input terminals R1/R16 to one or more (In case of broadcasting) of the output terminals T1 to T16 according to routing Information contained in the header of these packets. Each Input terminal R1/R16 Is coupled to the control means CM via a respective receiver circuit RC1/RC16, whilst these control means CM are themselves coupled to the output terminals Tl to T16 via respective transmitter circuits TCI to TC16.

More particularly, each receive circuit RCI/RC16 Includes a synchronisation circuit to perform packet synchronization or frame alignment of the incoming bit stream, an Input queue to temporarily store the Incoming packets prior to sending them to the control means CM, a processor to control the operation of the different parts of this receiver circuit, and a routing table to Interprets the received routing Information In order to separate control packets Intended to the processor of the receiver circuit from data packets intended to a transmitter circuit TC1/TC16. When the routing Information included in the header of a packet does not expllcltely contain the address of a transmitter circuit TC1/TC16, the routing table is able to translate this Information Into this address. All these parts of the receiver circuits RC1 to RC16 are described in more detail >7% in the abovementioned United States patent Mo. ^,603,^16 and are therefore not shown in Fig. I.

Each receiver circuit RC1/RC16 further includes a circuit (not shown) to split up each incoming packet into 8 fractions of equal length, e.g. 16 bits, which are applied to 8 distinct control circuits CC1 to CC3 forming part of the control means CM and of which only the first CC1 and the last CC8 ones are shown in Fig. 1. This transfer of fractions of packets is done via 3 input lines each linking a receiver circuit RC1/RC16 to the 8 control circuits CC1 to CC3 via respective terminals Il/Ilo tnereof. In other words, each control circuit CC1/CC3 is connected to the 16 receiver circuit1; RC1 to RC16 via its terminals II to 116 through which it can receive the fractions of the incoming packets at a bit-rate equal, e.g., to 560 / 8 = 70 Megabits/second .

The control circuits CC1 to CC8 are connected to a memory MM which is sub-divide into 8 sub-memories Ml to M8 of equal lengths. Each control circuit CCI/CC8 is only connected to one corresponding sub-memory M1/M8 by 16 write lines to load fractions of packets therein via a write terminal V and by 16 read lines to unload fractions of packets therefrom via a read terminal R. Additionally, the control 7 /■' 22 37 circuit CC1 has an address terminal A which is connected in parallel to all the sub-memories Mi to MS via 16 address lines to indicate to these sub-memories where the fractions of packets transferred through the write or read lines of the 8 control circuits have to be loaded or unloaded respectively. In practice, each sub-memory MI/MS is sub-divide into 16 identical storage areas each allocated to distinct &.r circuits TC1/TC16.

Each control circuit CC1/CC3 is finally also connected to these 16 transmitter circuits TCI to ?Cl6 by 16 output lines via respective terminals Ol/Olo through which the fractions of packets unloaded from the sub-memories Ml to M8 are transferred to the destination transmitter circuit TC1/TC16.

In each transmitter circuit TC1/TCI6 tr.e 8 fractions of packets received from the 8 different control circuits CC1 to CC8 are concatenated to rebuild the original packets of digital signals prior to transferring them further via its output terminal Tl/Tlo.

The digital signals are unloaded from the sub-memories Ml to M8 of the memory MM at a speed which is proportional to the bit-rate at which the packets are transmitted via the $ 22 3 7 output terminals T1 to Tl6 to the devices connected to these terminals .

The control circuit CC1 is represented in Pig. 2 wherein only the first 11/01 and the last 116/016 ones of its input and output terminals respectively and the circuits associated thereto are shown. CCi includes a 16 bits address bus A3, a 16 bits write bus W3, a 16 bits read bus R3 and a ^ bits pointer bus ?3 to transfer digital signals and of which A3, W3 and R3 are connected to the respective terminals A, W and R mentioned above, whilst P3 is an internal bus to transfer relative addresses of transmitter circuits TC1./7C16 as will be described below. The terminals II to IlS of the control circuit CCI are coupled to the busses WB ana ?3 via respective input circuits IC1 to IC16, whilst the bus R3 is coupled to the terminals 01 to 016 of CCI via output circuits 0C1 to 0C16. Each input circuit IC1/IC16 includes a 16 bits shift register IR16 to which the corresponding input terminal 11/116 is connected and which is able to store the fractions of packets incoming from the corresponding receiver circuit RC1/RC16. When the shift register IR16 is full, the fraction of packet stored therein is transferred to a 16 bits latch circuit IL16 also included in each input circuit IC1/IC16. This fraction of packet re- y*<\ ^SEfts 22 3 7 mains in the latch circuit IL16 until the write bus W3 is ready to transfer it to the sub-memory Ml wherein it will be loaded at a location indicated by the data then present on the pointer bus P3. These latter data are obtained in the following way. The first 'A bits of the fraction of packet stored in the shift register IR16 are also transferred to a U bits latch circuit L4 also forming part of each input circuit IC1/IC16. From there, these U bits are transferred to a pointer control circuit PC included in CCI and more particularly to a write pointer table WPT thereof via a terminal WT. In fact, these 4 bits form part of the routing information of the packet and Identify the relative address 1 to 16 of the transmitter circuit TCI to TCI6 to which this fraction and thus also the whole packet is intended. The write pointer table WPT contains for each of the 16 storage areas of the sub-memory Ml a write pointer indicating the address of the next free location in that storage area, I.e. where the fraction of packet should be loaded. When, for Instance, 4,096 (4K) fractions of packets can be loaded in each of the 16 storage areas of the sub-memory Ml, the complete address of a free location of the sub-memory Ml may be given by 16 bits. The first 4 bits indicate the number 1 to 16 of the storage area of the sub-memory Ml allocated to the 1 * 22 37 destination transmitter circuit TC1/TC16, i.e. the relative address 1 to 16 of this transmitter circuit, whilst the 12 remaining bits indicate the next free location 1 to 4,096 (4K) in this storage area wherein the 16 bits packet fraction can be stored. This 16 bits address is then transmitted to the address bus A3 via a terminal WA of the write pointer table S?T and so to the 16 address lines via the address terminal A of the control circuit CCI. This address is then indicated simultaneously to the 8 sub-memories Ml to M8 which are handled in parallel and wherein the fractions of packets comming from the 8 control circuits CCI to CC8 are thus loaded in honolog locations.

In practice, the contents of the 4 bits latch circuits L4 of the 16 input circuits IC1 to IC16 are successively transferred to the write pointer table VP? via the pointer bus P3 and the terminal WT. As mentioned above, a 16 bits corresponding address is then generated by the write pointer table WPT, is loaded on the address bus A3 and appears on the address terminal A of the control circuit CCI. At the same moment, the contents of the latch circuits IL16 of the corresponding input circuits IC1/IC16 of the 8 control circuits CCI to CC8 are loaded on the write bus WB thereof and appear at their write terminals W. The fractions of packets #r * * 22 3 7 are then transferred to the corresponding sub-memories Ml to MS at homolog locations.

In synchronism with the bit-rate at which the packets are transmitted further by the transmitter circuits TCI to TC16 through their respective output terminals T1 to Tl6, the sub-memories Ml to M8 are unloaded by the control circuits CCI "o CC8. This unloaded operation of the sub-memories MI to MS is performed under the control of a read pointer table RPT included in the pointer control circuit PC of the control circuit CCI. The read pointer table RPT contains for each transmitter circuit TCI/TC16 a read pointer indicating for the corresponding storage area the location of the fraction of packet to be unloaded. As for the write operation of the packets fractions in the memory MM, all the sub-memories Ml to M8 are handled In parallel owing to their simultaneous addressing through the 16 address lines connected to the address terminal A of the control circuit CCI. In practice, the read pointer table HPT loads successively for each transmitter circuit TC1/TC16 a 16 bits address on the address bus AB via a terminal RA. This 16 bits address, obtained in a similar way as the one mentioned above, is transferred to all the sub-memories Ml to M8 via the address terminal A of the control circuit CCI. At that moment, the 22 3 7 fractions of packets contained in the sub-memories Ml to M8 are transferred through the 16 read lines connected to the read terminals R of the corresponding control circuits CCI to CC8 and so on their respective read basses RB. The fractions of packets are then transferred to the output circuits 0C1/0C16 corresponding to the selected transmitter circuit TC1/TC16. More particularly, each fraction of packet is loaded in a 16 bits latch circuit 0L16 included in each output circuit OC1/OC16 of each control circuit CCI to CC8.

From this 16 bits latch circuit OC16, the fraction of packet is transferred to a 16 bits shift register 0R16 also included in the output circuits 0C1 to OClo and from which it is sent to the destination transmitter circuit TC1/TC16 via the corresponding terminal 01/016.

The pointer control circuit PC of the control circuit CCI further includes a queue control circuit QC coupled to the write pointer table WPT via a terminal WC and to the read pointer table RPT via a terminal RC. The purpose of this queue control circuit QC is to compare the values of the write pointer and of the read pointer of each storage area of the sub-memory Ml and thus in this ways of the sub-memories M2 to M8 in order to detect empty or full storage areas and to take the appropriate decisions. For Instance, 22 37 In case of an empty storage area corresponding to a particular transmitter circuit TC1/TC15, a so-called synchronization packet may be generated and transmitted to this c ircuit.

It is to be noted that, since the 16 bits write and read addresses are identical for the 8 sub-memories Ml to M8 and are generated by the control circuit CCI, the 4 bits latch circuit L4 of the Input circuits IC1 to IC16, the pointer bus ?3, the pointer control circuit PC and the address bus A3 as well as its address terminal A are only present in this control circuit CCI and not In the other control circuits CC2 to CC8.

The fact of sub-dividing the memory MM into 8 sub-memories Ml to M8 which are themselves sub-divide into 16 storage areas each associated to a transmitter circuit TC1/TC16 has the advantage of being easy to implement and to avoiding interactions between digital signals belonging to packets intended to different transmitter circuits TCI to TC16. The congestion on one transmitter circuit TC1/TC16, due for instance to an overflow of its storage area, does not affect the operation of the other transmitter circuits. However, to avoid this congestion problem, the storage areas and thus also the whole memory MM are generally over- y$ 22 3 7 dimensioned so that the volume occupied by the memory MM is larger than the one required for a particular application.

A solution to this congestion problem consists in using the memory MM as a common pool wherein the space reserved for each transmitter circuit TCI/TC16 may be dynamically allocated. However this requires additional control functions not described here to load and unload the memory MM.

One can also think to broadcast packets to a fixed number of transmitter circuits TCI to TC16. Broadcasting requires an especially dedicated region of the memory MM wherein the packets remain stored until all the transmitter circuits TCI to TC16 participating to the broadcast session have read them. Also here additional control functions not described below are necessary. Furthermore, it is obvious that in these two last cases the memory MM could no more be subdivided into identical sub-memories such as Ml to M8.

In a preferred embodiment, the memory MM is external to the chip of the switching system. So, the space required by this memory nay be easily adapted to the application whereto the switching system SW is intended without modifying the other circuits of this switching system. Indeed, this memory space being generally calculated by means of traffic 22 3 7 8 1 probabilities and thus not known with accuracy, it may drastically vary from one application to the other.

It is to be noted that the memory MM is no more necessary when the bit-rate at which the packets are transmitted by the transmitter circuits ?C1 to TC16 via their respective output terminals T1 to Tl6 Is sufficiently high to follow the rhythm at which these packets are received from the receiver circuits RC1 to RC16.

While the principles of the Invention have been described above in connection with specific apparatus, it Is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention.

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Claims (3)

2237 What we claim Is:-

1. A switching system Including a plurality of input terminals connected to receiver means able to receive packets of digital signals therefrom and to divide each of said packets Into a plurality of sub-packets; control means to which at least one sub-packet of each of said packets and containing routing information is applied; a plurality of memories allocated to respective sub-packets of each of said packets, said sub-packets being loaded into and unloaded from said memories under the control of said control means; transmitter means which are connected to a plurality of output terminals and to which said unloaded sub-packets are supplied, said transmitter means being able to rebuild a packet from its sub-packets and to transmit said rebuilt packet to at least one terminal indicated by said routing information, wherein each of said memories Is sub-divided into a plurality of storage areas allocated to respective ones of said output terminals and that said control means, under the control of said routing information, load the sub-packets of a packet to be transmitted to said indicated output terminal into the storage areas allocated thereto.

2. A switching system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control means include a first control circuit to which said one sub-packet containing said routing information is applied from said receiver means and a plurality of second control 17 223781 ilsa«v circuits to which the remaining sub-packets of a packet are respectively applied from said receiver means. 3« A switching system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first control circuit is associated with one of said memories and that each of said second control circuits is associated with a respective memory of said plurality. 4. A switching system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of memories are on a chip separated from the other circuits of said switching system. 5- A switching system as claimed In claim 1, wherein said plurality of sub-packets of a packet are loaded and unloaded simultaneously and In an homologous way Into and from said respective storage areas. 6. A switching system Including a plurality of Input ter minals connected to receiver means able to receive packets of digital signals therefrom and to divide each of said packets Into a plurality of sub-packets; control means to which at least one sub-packet of each of said packets and containing routing Information Is applied; a plurality of memories allocated to respective sub-packets of each of said packets, said sub-packets being loaded Into and unloaded from said memories under the control of said control means; transmitter means which are connected to a plurality of output terminals and to which said unloaded sub-packets are supplied, said transmitter means being able to rebuild a packet from Its sub-packets and to transmit said rebuilt packet to at least oi^e^^rifflnal indi- f g) 18 . I lip 223 / cated by said routing information, wherein said receiver means include a plurality of receiver circuits to which a respective input terminal is connected and which are each able to divide a packet received from said connected Input terminal into said plurality of sub-packets. 7. A switching system as claimed in claim 2 or 6, wherein said first and second control circuits each includes a plurality of Input buffer means each able to latch a respective sub-packet received from said receiver circuits prior to loading it Into the storage areas corresponding to said intended output terminal. 8. A switching system as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first control circuit includes addressing means able to extract from said routing information contained In said one sub-packet applied thereto the address of said Intended output terminal and to Indicate to said plurality of memories the location of the respective homologous storage areas into which the sub-packets of a packet latched in the corresponding input buffer means have to be loaded. 9. A switching system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said addressing means are able to indicate to said plurality of memories the location of the respective homologous storage areas from which the sub-packets of a packet have to be unloaded and transferred to corresponding output buffer means. 10. A switching system including a plurality of Input ter- 19' 2237 8 digital signals therefrom and to divide each of said packets Into a plurality of sub-packets; control means to which at least one sub-packet of each of said packets and containing routing Information is applied; a plurality of memories allocated to respective sub-packets of each of said packets, said sub-packets being loaded into and unloaded from said memories under the control of said control means; transmitter means which are connected to a plurality of output terminals and to which said unloaded sub-packets are supplied, said transmitter means being able to rebuild a packet from its sub-packets and to transmit said rebuilt packet to at least one terminal indicated by said routing information, wherein said transmitter means include a plurality of transmitter circuits each connected to a respective output terminal and to which the sub-packets of a packet unloaded from corresponding homologous storage areas are applied and which is able to rebuild a packet from Its sub-packets. 11. A switching system as claimed In claim 2 or 10, wherein said first and second control circuits each includes a plurality of output buffer means each a'ole to latch a respective sub-packet unloaded from the storage area corresponding to said intended output terminal prior to transfer it to the corresponding transmitter circuit. 223781 v 12. A switching system substantially as herein described with reference to Pigs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. STANDARD TELEPHONES AND CABLES ?TY. LIMITED

3. O'Connor Authorized Agent P5/I/1703 21