Multi-Drop Bus Architecture for High-Radix Switches
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-radix tile-matrix switches face inefficiencies due to the wire-intensity and non-sustainability of point-to-point bus architectures, which become unsustainable as the radix grows, leading to congestion and reduced bandwidth.
Innovation Solution
Implementing multiple multi-drop buses in both the row and column dimensions of a tile-matrix switch to enhance performance, reduce wire complexity, and maintain reasonable latency, allowing for higher radix switches by using multiple multi-drop row and column buses to transmit frames simultaneously.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If point-to-point buses are used to deliver frames from input ports to output ports in a tile-matrix switch, then non-blocking behavior is achieved, but wire complexity increases significantly for high-radix switches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the bus architecture into multiple multi-drop buses organized in a hierarchical structure with row buses and column buses. Instead of using a single point-to-point bus for each connection, the system divides the routing into segments: row buses handle horizontal traffic within rows, and column buses handle vertical traffic within columns. This segmentation reduces the overall wire complexity while maintaining non-blocking behavior through the distributed bus structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a two-dimensional bus topology with row and column dimensions. Frames are routed by first selecting a row bus based on the destination column, then selecting a column bus based on the destination row. This dimensional approach transforms the one-dimensional point-to-point routing into a two-dimensional multi-drop structure, reducing wire complexity while preserving non-blocking performance.
2Device complexity
If a single driver or multi-receiver bus is used to deliver frames in tile-matrix switches, then wire complexity is reduced, but bandwidth and performance decrease for high-radix switches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple multi-drop buses into a coordinated hierarchical system where row buses and column buses work together. Multiple row buses can simultaneously transmit frames to different columns, and multiple column buses can simultaneously transmit frames to different rows. This merging of multiple buses maintains reduced wire complexity while achieving high bandwidth through parallel transmission paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous frame transmission by allowing multiple frames to be transmitted simultaneously across different row and column buses. The multi-drop architecture allows a single bus to serve multiple destinations continuously, and the hierarchical structure ensures that useful action (frame transmission) continues without interruption by providing alternative paths when congestion occurs on any single bus.
3Reliability
If point-to-point buses are used in high-radix tile-matrix switches, then non-blocking behavior is maintained, but the architecture becomes non-sustainable for higher radix switches
Solution Approach 1:
The hierarchical multi-drop bus architecture segments the routing function into row and column components. When scaling to higher radix switches, the system can add more row buses and column buses in a modular fashion. Each additional bus pair extends the switching capacity without requiring a complete redesign of the point-to-point connection structure, enabling sustainable scaling to higher radix values.
Solution Approach 2:
The two-dimensional row-column bus topology provides a scalable framework for higher radix switches. By organizing buses in rows and columns, the system can easily accommodate increased radix by adding more rows or columns to the matrix. This dimensional structure is inherently more adaptable to scaling than point-to-point connections, which would require exponentially more wires as radix increases.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses, methods and storage media associated with multiple multi-drop buses in a switch are provided herein. In some embodiments, the switch may include a multi-drop row bus to transmit a plurality of frames in a row dimension of the matrix switch and a multi-drop column bus to transmit the plurality of frames in a column dimension of the matrix switch. The switch may further include an input port to receive the plurality of frames and an output port to output the plurality of frames from the matrix switch. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.