A split input sunshine switch architecture

We present the split input sunshine switch, a new ATM switch architecture based on the sunshine switch, which utilizes two distinct input fabrics, primary and secondary, within a sunshine switch architecture. The primary input fabric is sized at the desired size, N/spl times/N, and the secondary switch is sized at N/z /spl times/ N/z, where z is a non-zero power of two. The introduction of the secondary input fabric allows a portion of the primary input fabric's input lines to be used to handle recirculating cells. For medium and large switch sizes, the hardware requirements of this new architecture is shown to be less than that of the original sunshine design for the same quality of service. Computer simulations have been performed on the sunshine switch and the split input sunshine switch in order to select design parameters and compare performance.