ATM Switch Architectures

Carey Williamson
Department of Computer Science
University of Calgary
1

Introduction
ATM

switches are categorized

based on internal architectural
characteristics
Example: shared memory switch
Two key features of a switch
design are the switch fabric and
the buffer organization
2

A Classification Scheme
ATM switch designs can be classified as
time-division or space-division switches
Time-division switches: all cells pass
through a common point within the switch
en route to their output points, but do so at
different times
Space-division switches: all cells pass
through the switch at the same time, but do
so on different paths

Time Division Switches

The

two most common types of

time division switches are the
shared memory switch and the
shared medium switch

Time Division Switches (Contd)

Shared

memory switch: there is a

common internal buffer in the
switch, through which all cells pass
en route to their output ports
Shared medium switch: there is a
common bus in the switch, over
which all cells must pass en route
to their output ports
5

Shared Memory Switch

Input
Ports

Dual
Ported
Memory

Output
Ports

Shared Memory Switch

All

incoming cells multiplexed into a

single stream (common memory)
Organized into output queues per
output port
Cells retrieved sequentially
Central controller and memory
bandwidth must be very fast
(at
least N times input port speed)
7

Shared Medium Switch

All

incoming cells multiplexed

across a common medium (bus)
Cells processed one at a time
Bus must be very fast
(at least N times input port
speed)

INPUT N

S/P

AF

FIFO

P/S

AF

FIFO

P/S

OUTPUT 1

OUTPUT 2

...

P/S

...

FIFO

...

S/P

AF

...

...

INPUT 2

S/P

...

INPUT 1

TIME DIVISION BUS

SHARED-MEDIUM PACKET
SWITCH

OUTPUT N

Space Division Switches

Space

division switches provide

multiple concurrent paths from the
input ports to the output ports
Cells coming in on different input ports
and heading to different output ports
can proceed through the switch
simultaneously on these separate
paths, without interfering with each
other
10

Space Division Switches

There

are many examples of space

division switches
Crossbar switches
Multistage interconnection networks
(MINs)
Banyan,

Batcher-Banyan, Benes
delta, omega, perfect shuffle
Hypercube

switches
11

4 x 4 Crossbar Switch
A1

A2

A3

A4

B1

B2

B3

B4

4 x 4 Crossbar Switch
A1

A2

A3

A4

B1

B2

B3

B4

4 x 4 Crossbar Switch
A1

A2

A3

A4

B1

B2

B3

B4

2 x 2 NETWORK
INPUT 0

OUTPUT 0

INPUT
1

OUTPUT 1

2 x 2 NETWORK
INPUT 0

OUTPUT 0

INPUT
1

OUTPUT 1

2 x 2 NETWORK
INPUT 0

OUTPUT 0

INPUT
1

OUTPUT 1

4 x 4 NETWORK
0

Summary
There is an extensive (and exhausting)
set of literature on ATM switch
architectures
Much of the real research activity took
place five or more years ago
Most vendors have based their ATM
switching products on the wellestablished good designs
(e.g., banyan-based or shared memory)

20