Switch fabrics provide a method to switch the packets from input ports to output ports

The new 2010 study on switch fabrics, has 329 pages, 111 tables and figures. Worldwide markets are poised to achieve significant growth as data managers move to more cost efficient switching modalities. Vendors are building out localized switch fabrics that support an information system with devices that contain virtual output queuing (VOQ) and prioritized flow control.Markets for switch fabrics at $317 million in 2009 are Stretch Chiffon anticipated to reach $920 million by 2016, growing in response to decreases in unit costs and increases in integrated IC functionality. Some applications are in high growth market segments, including data center consolidation, security, high definition video, and high speed video applications. Switch fabrics are poised to make people more productive in security environments, help increase productivity with faster desktop access capabilities, and decrease storage seek times.

Switch fabrics provide a method to switch the packets from input ports to output ports. The switch fabric must arbitrate traffic when more than one packet arrives concurrently if both are destined for the same output port. Switch fabrics provide sufficient buffering to handle situations where the packet input rate is greater than the switch fabric’s throughput capability.The two possible locations for buffering are at the input of the switch fabric (input queuing) or inteally to the switch fabric (shared-memory). Switch fabrics control quality of service (QoS).

The switch fabric is responsible for receiving data from a line card and routing it to the proper destination. OEMs outsource the fabric to semiconductor suppliers. Switch fabric solutions integrate advanced queuing and scheduling, a serial crossbar, and multiple channels of high-speed serial link technology in a two-component fabric chip set.The multi-service provisioning platform (MSPP) is an emerging product category specifically designed to address the needs of service providers for reliable transport of data and telecom services between dissimilar networks. New platforms of this type are employing standards-based packet switching systems designed to transfer voice and data over IP between PSTN, mobile, core and IP networks. Because the access points of a converged network use different protocols for transporting data and voice (that is, ATM, IP, and SONET).The task of the MSPP is to seamlessly transfer the media streams at port speed between the various network interfaces while supporting QoS guarantees. It is the move to higher layer switching to incorporate QoS along with the higher port speeds (OC-48, OC-192) that is driving the need for MSPPs with advanced network processing engines and intelligent switch fabric devices.Get Full Table Of Content (Index) Of Switch Fabric .