A VLSI crossbar switch with wrapped wave front arbitration

• Published in: IEEE transactions on circuits and systems. 1, Fundamental theory and applications Fundamental theory and applications, 2003-01, Vol.50 (1), p.135-141
• Main Authors: Delgado-Frias, J.G., Ratanpal, G.B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Circuits; Communication switching; Computer networks; Delay; Fabrics; Resource management; Switches; Throughput; Two dimensional displays; Very large scale integration
• ISSN: 1057-7122; 1558-1268
• DOI: 10.1109/TCSI.2002.807518

Crossbar switch is a key component of communication switches used in networks. Allocation of resources has a direct impact on packet transmission. A poor allocation results in long transmission delays. Hence, switches must include an arbiter that efficiently allocates the crossbar's resources. In this brief, a novel VLSI CMOS implementation of a high performance wrapped wave front arbitration (WWFA) for crossbar switches is described. Arbitration time is one of the critical factors that affect network performance. WWFA requires a two-dimensional arbitration that incorporates a rotating priority to provide fair arbitration. In this brief, we describe the design and implementation of this arbiter. The arbiter is capable of performing an arbitration in 1.15 ns using 0.5-/spl mu/m technology, for a 4 /spl times/ 4 crossbar. We also include the description of interface and crosspoint (CP) control circuitry, i.e., request-acknowledge circuit and CP controller circuit respectively.