Network protocol conversions and routing methods and apparatus

Abstract

A highly flexible and scalable architecture implements a wide variety of protocol bridging, including ATM SARing (segmentation and reassembly) operations and related functions with single call granularity for network to telecom interface applications such as voice over Internet. A very small packet size minimizes packetization delay so that VOIP can be realized without expensive echo cancellation.

1 . A method for network protocol conversion of digital data input units, the method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a network processor;    providing a buffer memory accessible to the network processor for temporary data storage;    receiving at least one input stream of data units having a rate;    in a first process of the network processor, receiving a first data unit of the input stream;    determining a protocol conversion or routing for the first data unit;    in a second process of the network processor, receiving a second data unit of the input stream;    determining a second protocol conversion or second routing for the second data unit;    in a third process of the network processor, executing the determined protocol conversion or routing of the first data unit;    in a fourth process of the network processor, executing the determined protocol conversion or routing of the second data unit; and    in a fifth process of the network processor, transmitting the protocol converted first data unit to a corresponding destination;    wherein two or more of the said processes execute at least partially concurrently on the network processor to accommodate the input stream rate with minimal delay.    
   
   
       2 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the input stream of data units encodes a voice channel.  
   
   
       3 . A method according to  claim 2  wherein the input stream comprises TDM voice data.  
   
   
       4 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the first data unit protocol conversion is determined by input port and or header information of the first data unit.  
   
   
       5 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said transmitting step includes conducting a table lookup to determine outbound header information.  
   
   
       6 . A method according to  claim 5  wherein each data unit of the input stream comprises a payload in a range of approximately 20 to 9000 payload bytes.  
   
   
       7 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein at least one of said steps of executing the determined protocol conversion comprises converting to an ATM protocol.  
   
   
       8 . A method according to  claim 7  wherein the input stream comprises a TDM stream.  
   
   
       9 . A method according to  claim 8  wherein the TDM stream encode a voice call.  
   
   
       10 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the input stream comprises internet protocol (IP) data.  
   
   
       11 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the input stream comprises MPEG data.  
   
   
       12 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein at least one of said steps of executing the determined protocol conversion comprises converting to an ATM protocol, namely AAL 2 .  
   
   
       13 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein at least one of said steps of executing the determined protocol conversion comprises converting to an AAL 5  non-voice ATM protocol.  
   
   
       14 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the input stream is one of a TDM stream, an IP packet, SONET and an ATM stream; and the converted or routed output protocol is one of a TDM stream, an IP packet, SONET and an ATM stream.  
   
   
       15 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the input streams comprise at least one or a combination of a TDM stream, an IP packet, SONET and an ATM stream; and the network processor aggregates and converts or routes the inputs the output stream to one of a TDM stream, an IP packet, SONET and an ATM stream.  
   
   
       16 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein the input steams include one or a combination of a TDM stream, an IP packet, SONET and an ATM stream; and the output stream consists of a single output stream.  
   
   
       17 . A method for network routing of digital data input units with minimal delay, the method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a network processor;    receiving at least one input stream of data units;    in a first process of the network processor, receiving a first data unit of the input stream;    and determining a routing for the first data unit;    in a second process of the network processor, receiving a second data unit of the input stream; and determining a routing for the second data unit;    transmitting the first data unit to a corresponding destination responsive to the determined routing for the first data unit; and    transmitting the second data unit to a corresponding destination responsive to the determined routing for the second data unit; and    wherein the first and second processes execute at least partially concurrently on the network processor to accommodate the input stream rate with minimal delay.    
   
   
       18 . A method according to  claim 17  wherein the input stream of data units encodes a voice channel.  
   
   
       19 . A method according to  claim 18  wherein the input stream comprises TDM voice data.  
   
   
       20 . A method for network protocol conversion of digital data input units, the method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a network processor;    providing a buffer memory accessible to the network processor for temporary data storage;    receiving at least one input stream of data units having a rate;    determining an outbound protocol for the input stream;    accumulating data units in the buffer memory to form a payload in accordance with the outbound protocol; and    transmitting an outbound packet in accordance with the outbound protocol and including the accumulated data units in a payload of the outbound packet.    
   
   
       21 . A system for interfacing multiple, continuous streams of serial data to a network processor coupled to a parallel data bus, the interface system comprising: 
 an input port for receiving at least one input stream of serial data;    a receive component coupled to the input port an including a receive buffer memory for assembling received input data so as to form first bytes of parallel data;    an output port for transmitting at least one output stream of serial data;    a transmit component coupled to the output port and including a transmit buffer memory for disassembling the second bytes of parallel data so as to form the serial output TDM data; and    a parallel bus interface, coupled to the receive component for transferring said first bytes of parallel data to a connected network processor, and coupled to the transmit component for concurrently transferring second bytes of parallel data from the connected network processor to the transmit component.