초록 ▼

Network switching systems (10, 110, 210, 310, 410) for use in an Ethernet network are disclosed. Each of the switching systems includes switch devices (20) supporting multiple (e.g., eight) local ports, and one gigabit high-speed port; each of the high-speed ports are full-duplex ports. Each switchi

Network switching systems (10, 110, 210, 310, 410) for use in an Ethernet network are disclosed. Each of the switching systems includes switch devices (20) supporting multiple (e.g., eight) local ports, and one gigabit high-speed port; each of the high-speed ports are full-duplex ports. Each switching system also includes a gigabit switch device (30) having two full-duplex gigabit ports. According to one aspect of the invention, the switches (20, 30) are connected in a ring using their respective gigabit ports, with each of the switches (20, 30) having a Ring ID value. Upon receipt of a message packet at one of its local ports, the switches (20) attach a pretag with the Ring ID value upon the packet, and begin forwarding the packet around the ring until the destination address is registered with one of the switches (20, 30), or until the packet returns to the original switch (20) which, upon detecting its own Ring ID value, filters or discards the packet. According to another aspect of the invention, switches (20) have their gigabit ports connected to a crossbar-matrix switch (100); pretags added by the switches to their received packets indicate the crossbar ports to which the packets are addressed. According to another aspect of the invention, each of the switches (20, 30) applies flow control over the gigabit ports in response to a message occupying more buffer space than remaining buffers; this permits buffer space to be utilized when traffic permits, without allowing a small minority of channels to adversely affect others.

대표청구항 ▼

Network switching systems (10, 110, 210, 310, 410) for use in an Ethernet network are disclosed. Each of the switching systems includes switch devices (20) supporting multiple (e.g., eight) local ports, and one gigabit high-speed port; each of the high-speed ports are full-duplex ports. Each switchi

Network switching systems (10, 110, 210, 310, 410) for use in an Ethernet network are disclosed. Each of the switching systems includes switch devices (20) supporting multiple (e.g., eight) local ports, and one gigabit high-speed port; each of the high-speed ports are full-duplex ports. Each switching system also includes a gigabit switch device (30) having two full-duplex gigabit ports. According to one aspect of the invention, the switches (20, 30) are connected in a ring using their respective gigabit ports, with each of the switches (20, 30) having a Ring ID value. Upon receipt of a message packet at one of its local ports, the switches (20) attach a pretag with the Ring ID value upon the packet, and begin forwarding the packet around the ring until the destination address is registered with one of the switches (20, 30), or until the packet returns to the original switch (20) which, upon detecting its own Ring ID value, filters or discards the packet. According to another aspect of the invention, switches (20) have their gigabit ports connected to a crossbar-matrix switch (100); pretags added by the switches to their received packets indicate the crossbar ports to which the packets are addressed. According to another aspect of the invention, each of the switches (20, 30) applies flow control over the gigabit ports in response to a message occupying more buffer space than remaining buffers; this permits buffer space to be utilized when traffic permits, without allowing a small minority of channels to adversely affect others. said message for later retrieval by the called party. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said message is a voicemail message. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein said message includes video data. 10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of delivering said message to said called party via the Internet. 11. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of initiating a pager notification call to said called party, said pager notification call intended to be received by a pager device controlled by said called party and to notify said called party that said message has been recorded and is available for delivery. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said pager notification call further notifies said called party that said message is available for delivery via the Internet by including an indication of a web site uniform resource locator (URL).