Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
151 words
A communications system comprising, a plurality of functional units (21 - 25) including a switching network (24) and peripheral units (26), and a message switch (20,30) comprising a processor (31) and data port circuits (34) for interfacing with respective ones of said functional units, the message switch being adapted for interconnecting any one of the functional units with any other of the functional units, the data port circuits (34) being connected to a transaction bus internal to the message switch and being respectively addressable by a physical address contained in the header of each message to be routed, the routing header of each message comprising a physical address and a logical address, the message switch also comprising a mapper circuit (33) addressable by a predetermined physical address and responsive thereto for translating the logical address to a physical address and for replacing said predetermined physical address with said translated physical address.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
151 words
A communications system comprising, a plurality of functional units (21 - 25) including a switching network (24) and peripheral units (26), and a message switch (20,30) comprising a processor (31) and data port circuits (34) for interfacing with respective ones of said functional units, the message switch being adapted for interconnecting any one of the functional units with any other of the functional units, the data port circuits (34) being connected to a transaction bus internal to the message switch and being respectively addressable by a physical address contained in the header of each message to be routed, the routing header of each message comprising a physical address and a logical address, the message switch also comprising a mapper circuit (33) addressable by a predetermined physical address and responsive thereto for translating the logical address to a physical address and for replacing said predetermined physical address with said translated physical address.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
42 words
A communications system as defined in claim 1 wherein the mapper circuit (33) comprises a memory means (40) and a controller (41) for causing it to be addressed at said logical address to provide primary translated data comprising a primary physical address.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
51 words
A communications system as defined in claim 2 wherein the controller (41) is responsive to a translated primary physical address corresponding to a destination that is unavailable for causing the memory means (40) to be addressed again at the logical address to provide secondary translated data comprising a secondary physical address.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
A communications system as defined in claim 3 wherein the primary and secondary data further comprise closure data associated with the respective physical addresses.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
A communications system as defined in claim 4 wherein the primary and secondary data also comprise parity data associated therewith.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
A communications system as defined in claim 2 wherein the memory means (40) is a read-write memory.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
42 words
A communications system as defined in claim 6 wherein the mapper circuit (33) is connected to the processor unit (31) of the message switch (30) whereby the content of the memory (40) may be initially loaded and periodically updated with translation data.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
A communications system as defined in claim 7 wherein the memory (40) is a dynamic random access memory and the mapper circuit (33) further comprises a circuit for refreshing the memory.