Collapsed-distributed Clos switching architecture for multi-chassis fabric connectivity

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10257589-B2
Application number	US-201615223886-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 29, 2016
Priority date	Aug 20, 2014
Publication date	Apr 9, 2019
Grant date	Apr 9, 2019

Abstract

A system may comprise a first device and a second device associated with a Clos architecture. The first device may include a first crossbar that comprises a first component, a second component, and a third component. The second device may include a second crossbar that comprises a fourth component, a fifth component, and a sixth component. The first component may connect to the second component and the fifth component. The second component may connect to the first component, the third component, the fourth component, and the sixth component. The third component may connect to the second component and the fifth component. The fourth component may connect to the second component and the fifth component. The fifth component may connect to the first component, the third component, the fourth component, and the sixth component. The sixth component may connect to the second component and the fifth component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a plurality of network devices,
each network device, of the plurality of network devices, including a plurality of crossbars associated with a Clos architecture,
each of the plurality of crossbars including:
a first crossbar component;
a second crossbar component; and
a third crossbar component,
 the first crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the second crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars,
 the second crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the first crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, and connecting to the third crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars, and
 the third crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the second crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars.

2. The system of claim 1 , where the Clos architecture includes:
at least one ingress stage;
at least one middle stage,
the at least one middle stage residing in one or more fabric chassis to which the plurality of network devices connect; and

at least one egress stage.

3. The system of claim 2 , where the at least one ingress stage of the Clos architecture is associated with connecting the plurality of network devices to form a multi-chassis system.

4. The system of claim 2 , where the at least one ingress stage of the Clos architecture is to receive a plurality of packets via one or more input components and provide the plurality of packets to the at least one middle stage.

5. The system of claim 2 , where the at least one middle stage of the Clos architecture is associated with connecting the plurality of network devices to form a multi-chassis system.

6. The system of claim 2 , where the at least one middle stage of the Clos architecture is to receive a plurality of packets from the at least one ingress stage and provide the plurality of packets to the at least one egress stage.

7. The system of claim 2 , where the at least one egress stage of the Clos architecture is associated with connecting the plurality of network devices to form a multi-chassis system.

8. A system comprising:
a plurality of devices,
each device, of the plurality of devices, including a plurality of crossbars associated with a Clos architecture,
each of the plurality of crossbars including:
a first crossbar component;
a second crossbar component; and
a third crossbar component,
 the first crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the second crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars,
 the second crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the first crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, and connecting to the third crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars, and
 the third crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the second crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars.

9. The system of claim 8 , where the Clos architecture includes:
at least one ingress stage;
at least one middle stage,
the at least one middle stage residing in one or more fabric chassis to which the plurality of devices connect; and

at least one egress stage.

10. The system of claim 9 , where the at least one egress stage of the Clos architecture is associated with connecting the plurality of devices to form a multi-chassis system.

11. The system of claim 9 , where the at least one egress stage of the Clos architecture is to receive a plurality of packets from at least one middle stage and provide the plurality of packets via one or more output components.

12. The system of claim 9 , where the at least one egress stage of the Clos architecture is connected to a first middle stage, a second middle stage, and a third middle stage,
the first middle stage being associated with a first crossbar of a first device of the plurality of devices,
the second middle stage being associated with a second crossbar of the first device, and
the third middle stage being associated with a first crossbar of a second device of the plurality of devices.

13. The system of claim 8 , where the plurality of crossbars is partitioned equally between the plurality of devices,
a first device, of the plurality of devices, including two crossbars of the plurality of crossbars,
a second device, of the plurality of devices, including two crossbars of the plurality of crossbars, and
the first device connecting to the second device.

14. The system of claim 8 , where the plurality of crossbars is partitioned between the plurality of devices,
a first device, of the plurality of devices, including two crossbars of the plurality of crossbars,
a second device, of the plurality of devices, including three crossbars of the plurality of crossbars,
a third device, of the plurality of devices, including one crossbar of the plurality of crossbars, and
the first device connecting to the second device and connecting to the third device.

15. A system comprising:
two or more devices,
each device, of the two or more devices, including a plurality of crossbars associated with a Clos architecture,
each of the plurality of crossbars including:
a first crossbar component;
a second crossbar component; and
a third crossbar component,
 the first crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the second crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars,
 the second crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the first crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, and connecting to the third crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars, and
 the third crossbar component, of each of the plurality of crossbars, connecting to the second crossbar component of each of the plurality of crossbars.

16. The system of claim 15 , where the Clos architecture includes:
at least one ingress stage;
at least one middle stage,
the at least one middle stage residing in one or more fabric chassis to which the two or more devices connect; and

at least one egress stage.

17. The system of claim 16 , where the at least one ingress stage of the Clos architecture is associated with connecting the two or more devices to form a multi-chassis system.

18. The system of claim 16 , where the at least one middle stage of the Clos architecture is associated with connecting the two or more devices to form a multi-chassis system.

19. The system of claim 16 , where the at least one egress stage of the Clos architecture is associated with connecting the two or more devices to form a multi-chassis system.

20. The system of claim 15 , where the plurality of crossbars is partitioned between the two or more devices,
a first device, of the two or more devices, including two crossbars of the plurality of crossbars,
a second device, of the two or more devices, including three crossbars of the plurality of crossbars,
a third device, of the two or more devices, including one crossbar of the plurality of crossbars, and
the first device connecting to the second device and connecting to the third device.

Assignees

• Juniper Networks Inc

Inventors

• Yadav Alam

Classifications

• H04Q3/68

  Grouping or interlacing selector groups or stages · CPC title

• H04Q3/0004 Primary

  using crossbar selectors in the switching stages · CPC title

• H04L45/24

  Multipath · CPC title

• H04L45/60

  Router architectures · CPC title