Abstract:
A cross-bar switch includes a set of input ports for receiving data packets and a set of sink ports for transmitting the received packets to identified targets. A set of data rings couples the input ports to the sink ports. Each sink port utilizes the set of data rings to accept data packets targeted to destinations supported by the sink port. The cross-bar switch includes a multi-sink port for supporting explicit multicast addressing. The multi-sink port is coupled to each data ring and each sink port. The multi-sink port snoops multicast packets on the cross-bar switch's rings and transfers each packet to a set of sink ports that support the packet's targeted destinations.
Abstract:
An advanced processor comprises a plurality of multithreaded processor cores each having a data cache and instruction cache. A data switch interconnect is coupled to each of the processor cores and configured to pass information among the processor cores. A messaging network is coupled to each of the processor cores and a plurality of communication ports. In one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the data switch interconnect is coupled to each of the processor cores by its respective data cache, and the messaging network is coupled to each of the processor cores by its respective message station. Advantages of the invention include the ability to provide high bandwidth communications between computer systems and memory in an efficient and cost-effective manner.