Full Channel-Swap Crossbar

Abstract

A programmable channel-swap crossbar switch for swapping signal flow from one channel to another within an Ethernet physical layer device (PHY) is presented. The crossbar switch includes two or more programmed multiplexers, each multiplexer configured to receive two or more input signals and to select which one of the input signals to pass to a programmed corresponding channel, such that a first, input signal associated with a first channel can be swapped to a second channel as operating conditions necessitate. The crossbar switch can be used for Ethernet communications with various communication speeds, such as 10BaseT, 100BaseT, and Gigabit communications. A crossbar switch can be used in both a transmit path and a receive path. Two crossbar switches may be used in a receive path in order to undo channel swapping for control signal processing. A method of channel-swapping in an Ethernet PHY communications system is also presented.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A channel-swap crossbar switch, comprising:
 a control mechanism configured to effect a mapping of a virtual channel to an actual channel;   a first multiplexer configured to select a signal received at a virtual channel port based on the mapping; and   a second multiplexer configured to designate an actual channel on which to transmit the received signal based on the mapping.   
     
     
         2 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 1 , wherein the control mechanism comprises chip inputs. 
     
     
         3 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 1 , wherein the control mechanism comprises a register. 
     
     
         4 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 3 , wherein the mapping comprises one or more bits stored in the register. 
     
     
         5 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 1 , further comprising logic configured to detect when an overmapping has occurred. 
     
     
         6 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 5 , wherein the logic is further configured to prioritize the channel mapping when the overmapping is detected. 
     
     
         7 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 1 , wherein the signal comprises a 10BaseT communication or a 100BaseT communication. 
     
     
         8 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 1 , wherein the first multiplexer is configured to select the signal received at the virtual channel port from among a plurality of signals received at a plurality of virtual channel ports. 
     
     
         9 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 1 , wherein the second multiplexer is configured to designate the actual channel on which to transmit the received signal from among a plurality of actual channels. 
     
     
         10 . The channel-swap crossbar switch of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual channel port comprises a digital channel port. 
     
     
         11 . A method, comprising:
 receiving a mapping of a virtual channel to an actual channel;   selecting a signal received at a virtual channel port based on the mapping; and   designating an actual channel on which to transmit the received signal based on the mapping.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the receiving comprises receiving mapping signals via chip inputs. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein receiving the mapping comprises storing the mapping in a register. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the mapping comprises one or more bits. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising detecting when an overmapping has occurred. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising prioritizing the channel mapping when the overmapping is detected. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the signal comprises a 10BaseT communication or a 100BaseT communication. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein selecting the signal comprises selecting the signal from among a plurality of signals received at a plurality of virtual channel ports. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein designating the actual channel comprises designating the actual channel on which to transmit the received signal from among a plurality of actual channels. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual channel port comprises a digital channel port.