
VITESSE
Data Sheet
VSC880
High Performance 16x16
Serial Crosspoint Switch
Page 18
G52191-0, Rev 4.2
01/05/01
VITESSE
SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
741 Calle Plano
Camarillo, CA 93012
Tel: (800) VITESSE
FAX: (805) 987-5896
Email: prodinfo@vitesse.com
Internet: www.vitesse.com
3.0 Cell Mode
3.1 Overview
In Cell Mode (CMODE = HIGH), a more sophisticated arbitration scheme can be supported by using the
VSC870 and the VSC880 switch in conjunction with a central (user defined) scheduler. In this mode, only fixed
length data packets (cells) can be supported. A cell clock is connected to the switch chip, and the switch chip
distributes the cell clock to all connected transceivers. The transceivers adjust their transmit cell clocks so that all
transceivers send the first word of a cell at such time that it arrives at the switch chip aligned to the switch cell clock
(see serial link operation above). In this mode, messages containing port card queue information are sent to the
central scheduler using an out of band control bus. Arbitration and flow control information are then sent back to the
port cards through the out of band control bus. The scheduler then configures the switch matrix by using the parallel
interface. A picture of a cell based system is shown below. Multiple switch chips can be used in parallel to increase
system bandwidth (see Application Note 32
“
Design Guide for a Cell Based Switch with Central Control
”
).
Figure 8: Cell Based System
3.2 Data Encoding Format
The data word and command word formats are described in section 1.0. Command words use the overhead bits
set to 00. Data words can have overhead bits 01, 10 or 11. The user can use these bits for signaling to the receiving
port card. Information such as start of frame and end of frame can be passed through the switch in this manner.
3.3 Receiver Operation
If CMODE is HIGH, the receiver at each port examines the two overhead bits (B[1:0]) of the received word to
determine the word type. If the word is a command word sent from the port card, the switch will respond based on the
type of command specified in the C[4:0] bit field. If an IDLE word arrives at the end of the cell clock period and it
does not have an embedded cell clock, a cell clock error is flagged. If it is a data word, it is sent to the switch fabric
to be routed to its destination along with the user defined overhead bits.
Port Card
Trans
System
Queuing
Port Card
Trans
Switch
Chip
Switch Card
System
Queuing
Scheduler/
Arbiter
VSC870
VSC870
VSC880
Out-of-band Control Bus