Non-blocking and self-routing properties of two-dimensional shuffle-exchange networks

A novel class of multistage interconnection networks known as two-dimensional shuffle-exchange networks is proposed. The two-dimensional shuffle-exchange network is an output-buffered network which possesses the non-blocking and self-routing properties under certain routing rules and a well-defined addressing scheme. Moreover the set of inputs can be divided into groups of N/4 inputs called contention groups, where N is the network size. The entire network is internally non-blocking if each contention group is conflict-free. Contention resolution can therefore be narrowed down and localized to individual contention groups, thereby reducing the time complexity of the contention resolution algorithm involved. The ATM switch constructed with the two-dimensional shuffle-exchange network therefore results in a reduction of both time and hardware complexity when compared with the one based on the traditional sort-banyan principle