A 20 Gbps scalable load-balanced TDM switch with CODEC for high speed networking applications

For the first time, we implemented a reconfigurable load-balanced TDM switch for high speed networking applications. An N×N TDM switch could be constructed recursively from the proposed switch modules to achieve switching capacity of hundred gigabits per second or higher. Two architectures were implemented. One was an 8×8 TDM switch with serial input/output ports and embedded 8/10B CODECs for Ethernet applications. The other was a dual-mode 8×8 or 64×64 TDM switch with parallel ports. A novel testing circuit was also implemented to easily verify switching results. Our results showed a 20 Gbps switching capacity for the 8×8 TDM switch with parallel input and output ports and a 640 Gbps capacity for the 64×64 switch. All implementation were based on the 0.18 μm CMOS technology.