Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
150 words
Apparatus for scheduling arriving packet cells for input to a switch having a plurality of input ports and output ports, the apparatus comprising: means, associated with each input port, for storing the packet cells arriving at the associated input port, means, associated with each input port, for controlling the storage of packet cells in the storing means by requesting from a contention control means a transmission time for one arriving packet cell in which the one arriving packet cell is granted access to one of the plurality of output ports of the switch from the associated input port, by accepting the transmission time assigned by the contention control, and by returning a previously assigned transmission time, contention control means for assigning a transmission time to each request for access an output port of the switch and for storing at least one previously assigned transmission time returned by the controlling means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
150 words
Apparatus for scheduling arriving packet cells for input to a switch having a plurality of input ports and output ports, the apparatus comprising: means, associated with each input port, for storing the packet cells arriving at the associated input port, means, associated with each input port, for controlling the storage of packet cells in the storing means by requesting from a contention control means a transmission time for one arriving packet cell in which the one arriving packet cell is granted access to one of the plurality of output ports of the switch from the associated input port, by accepting the transmission time assigned by the contention control, and by returning a previously assigned transmission time, contention control means for assigning a transmission time to each request for access an output port of the switch and for storing at least one previously assigned transmission time returned by the controlling means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the contention control means includes a plurality of scheduling means, each scheduling means associated with one of the plurality of output ports for scheduling each request for the associated one of the plurality of output ports into a different transmission time.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
54 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein each scheduling means further includes, means for storing the previously assigned transmission time, means for generating a next-available transmission time, and means responsive to a request for selectively assigning the transmission time from one of the transmission time storing means and the transmission time generating means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the means for storing the previously assigned transmission time includes means for storing more than one previously assigned transmission time.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the scheduling means further includes means for erasing the previously assigned transmission time from the transmission time storing means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the controlling means includes, means for maintaining the packet cells in their original order-of-arrival, and means for storing the transmission time assigned to the packet cell for transmission through the switch.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
60 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein the controlling means includes, means for determining whether the presently assigned transmission time has been reserved in the transmission time storing means for another transmission, and means responsive to the determining means for returning the presently assigned transmission time to the contention control means when the transmission time has been previously reserved.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the controlling means further includes means for delaying return of the previously assigned transmission time by the means for returning.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the controlling means further includes means for retrieving the stored packet cell from the storing means at the assigned transmission time.