Scalable crosspoint buffering ATM switch architecture using distributed arbitration scheme

This paper proposes a high-speed crosspoint-buffer-type ATM switch, named the salable-distributed-arbitration (SDA) switch. The SDA switch employs a new arbitration that enables the switch to have scalability. The SDA switch has a crosspoint buffer and a transit buffer at every crosspoint. The arbitration is executed between the crosspoint buffer and the transit buffer. The arbitration selects a cell based on the delay time using a synchronous counter. The selected cell is transferred from a crosspoint buffer by way of several transit buffers, then to the output port. Since the arbitration is executed distributedly at each crosspoint and the arbitration time does not depend on the switch size. The SDA switch is expandable and has a large throughput. Numerical results show that the SDA switch keeps fairness on the delay time. In addition, the maximum delay time and the required crosspoint buffer size in the SDA switch was reduced, compared with that of the conventional switch based on ring arbitration. Thus, the proposed SDA switch based on the new arbitration scheme is a simple and expandable architecture, and it will be suitable for the future high-speed multimedia ATM networks.