System, method and article of manufacture for updating a switching table in a switch fabric chipset system

Abstract

A system, method and article of manufacture are provided for updating a switching table in a switch fabric. In general, one or more status packets are received by a switch fabric component without handshaking between the transmitting source(s) and the receiving switch fabric component. Each status packet includes information relating to a status of an output port. A switching table is then updated based on the status information of the received status packet.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for updating a switching table in a switch fabric, comprising: 
 receiving at a switch fabric component one or status packets from at least one port controller and a plurality of other switch fabric components, wherein the status packets are received without utilizing of a handshaking protocol; and    updating a switching table based on the status information of the received status packet, the switching table providing information for identifying the availability of one or more output ports of the switch fabric component for outputting therefrom a datagram being transmitted through the switch fabric.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the status packets are received via paths dedicated for transmitting the status packets and separate from paths dedicated for transmitting Ethernet packets through the switch fabric system.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the status packets are received periodically and the switching table is updated in real time.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: generating a combined status packet based on the combined status information of the received status packets, and transmitting the combined status packet.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the combined status packet is transmitted from an outer layer switch fabric component to a middle layer switch fabric component.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received status packet is generated from a port controller.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received status packet is generated by a switch fabric component.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a status packet comprises 32 bits of data.  
     
     
         9 . A system for updating a switching table in a switch fabric, comprising: 
 logic for receiving at a switch fabric component one or status packets from at least one port controller and a plurality of other switch fabric components, wherein the status packets are received without utilizing of a handshaking protocol; and    logic for updating a switching table based on the status information of the received status packet, the switching table providing information for identifying the availability of one or more output ports of the switch fabric component for outputting therefrom a datagram being transmitted through the switch fabric.    
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the status packets are received via paths dedicated for transmitting the status packets and separate from paths dedicated for transmitting Ethernet packets through the switch fabric system.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the status packets are received periodically and the switching table is updated in real time.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising logic for generating a combined status packet based on the combined status information of the received status packets, and logic for transmitting the combined status packet.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the combined status packet is transmitted from an outer layer switch fabric component to a middle layer switch fabric component.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the received status packet is generated from a port controller.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the received status packet is generated by a switch fabric component.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a status packet comprises 32 bits of data.  
     
     
         17 . A computer program product for updating a switching table in a switch fabric, comprising: 
 computer code for receiving at a switch fabric component one or status packets from at least one port controller and a plurality of other switch fabric components, wherein the status packets are received without utilizing of a handshaking protocol; and    computer code for updating a switching table based on the status information of the received status packet, the switching table providing information for identifying the availability of one or more output ports of the switch fabric component for outputting therefrom a datagram being transmitted through the switch fabric.    
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17 , wherein the status packets are received via paths dedicated for transmitting the status packets and separate from paths dedicated for transmitting Ethernet packets through the switch fabric computer program product.  
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , wherein the status packets are received periodically and the switching table is updated in real time.  
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , further comprising computer code for generating a combined status packet based on the combined status information of the received status packets, and computer code for transmitting the combined status packet.