Abstract:
The distributed architecture switch of the invention provides a scalable, flexible switching device to route telephone calls and other data (e.g., frame relay, ISDN) over an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network (230). The switch includes multiple service modules (450, 452, 456 and 458) that can be geographically disparate and function as a single switching device. The multiple service modules (450, 452, 456 and 458) are coupled to a system controller (430 and 438) that controls the service modules (450, 452, 456 and 458) and passes messages between the service modules (450, 452, 456 and 458).
Abstract:
A switch (620, 650) to provide multi-service internetworking between multiple protocols (e.g., SS7, frame relay) using asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) routing. The switches (620, 650) receive traffic from multiple sources using multiple protocols, convert the traffic to ATM cells and providing routing of the ATM cells. The switches (620, 650) also receive traffic from the ATM network (640) and route the traffic to the appropriate devices (600, 670). Traffic from multiple sources using multiple protocols can be routed in a single ATM connection (e.g., virtual path, virtual connection). When the bandwidth of an ATM connection is reserved or consumed by traffic routed between switches (620, 650), additional ATM connections between the source and destination switches (620, 650) can be established to carry the additional traffic.