On the design of a local switch for heterogenous multi-subsystem interconnect

Before heterogenous networks evolve to all-ATM, multimedia communications are likely to cross over different networks operated at various speeds and protocols. An effective multimedia interconnection network or the so called switching hub must be able to handle various traffic patterns such as continuous, isochronous and connectionless data. Due to the limitations of current implementation such as backplane bus and shared memory the authors present a new platform, multi-subsystem interconnect (MSI) model which is based on a parallel and fast packet switching technique. The main part of MSI is a time-multiplexed space division switching fabric with the capability of simultaneous path resolution and packet transfer. The whole structure consists of a set of reusable building blocks. In realization the interface hardware can be implemented with a few ASICs applicable for different subsystems.<>