Remotely disposed high speed switches for high speed connection between computers and peripheral devices

Claim 1

Apparatus comprising: first and second crosspoint switches, each switch being provided with a first terminal set and a second terminal set, each set containing a like number of terminals, each switch having a first connection position at which the first set terminals are input terminals and the second set terminals are output terminals and having an alternative second connection position at which the first set of terminals are output terminals and the second set of terminals are input terminals; first and second component assemblies, each first and second assembly being associated with a corresponding one of said first and second switches, each assembly including an internal system bus connected in bi-directional manner to a first switch control section, a data multiplexer and de-multiplexer, and a CPU with watch dog timer, and further including a routing table connected to said CPU and an optical transceiver connected to said multiplexer and de-multiplexer; bi-directional means connecting the first switch control sections of the first assembly to a selected second set terminal of the first switch and connecting the first switch control section of the second assembly to a selected second set terminal of the second switch; and an optical fiber transmission cable interconnecting both optical transceivers.