An augmented chained fault-tolerant ATM switch

A new fault-tolerant ATM switch architecture based on multistage interconnection network (MIN) was proposed. Multiple paths between each input-output pair of the network are accomplished by connecting together switching elements within the same stage. Besides that, 2/sup n/2/spl times/2 switching element were distributed between stage n to n+1 in MIN to increase the paths for each input-output pair. It is self-routing, recursive in structure and the smaller network can easily be cascaded to form a larger network. Compared to the conventional mechanism, it reduces delay and gives better performance in term of stability and throughput.