Design of a nonblocking shared-memory copy network for ATM

A new nonblocking copy network is presented, for use in an ATM switch supporting BISDN, with a shared-memory input buffer. Blocked cells from any switch input are stored in a single shared input buffer. The copy network consists of three Omega networks and shared-memory queues. The design is scalable for large numbers of inputs due to a low hardware complexity, O(N log/sub 2/ N), and distributed operation and control. It is shown by simulation results that a switch incorporating the shared-memory copy network has increased throughput and lower buffer requirements to maintain low packet loss probability when compared to a switch with a discrete buffer copy network.<
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