Dynamically reconfigurable hybrid circuit-switched and packet-switched network architecture

1. A system of network resources, the network resources being dynamically reconfigurable into a plurality of networks forming interconnections between nodes in a plurality of network nodes, each of the network nodes being one of a functional module and a peripheral module, each of the networks being configurable as one of a circuit-switched network and a packet-switched network, the system comprising:

a plurality of switching modules, the switching modules being arranged in an ordered plurality of switching levels including a highest level and a lowest level, each of the switching modules including a selecting circuit controlled by a mode selecting signal, the selecting circuit according to the mode selecting signal being able to select a switching control signal from between a circuit-switching signal and a packet-switching signal, thereby selecting a mode of the switching module as one of a circuit-switched mode and a packet-switched mode; and

a plurality of module interconnections,

for each of the switching modules, the module interconnections providing forward and backward communication between the switching module and a plurality of modules at a next lower level, the plurality of modules at the next lower level including at least one of switching modules and network nodes,

for each of the switching modules that is not at the highest level, the module interconnections providing forward and backward communication between the switching module and exactly one switching module at the next higher level,

the switching modules and interconnections being thereby able to form a pair of forward and backward communication channels between any two of the network nodes.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each switching module further includes a resource allocation storage circuit, the resource allocation storage circuit including at least one of registers and memory, the resource allocation storage circuit providing the mode selecting signal to the selection circuit.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the module interconnections provide forward communication between each switching module four modules in a next lower level.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the highest level of switching modules includes only one switching module.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the switching modules and module interconnections are able to form communication channels between a data source network node and a data destination network node including:

a forward data transmission channel from the data source node to the data destination node;

a forward status transmission channel from the data source node to the data destination node; and

a backward status transmission channel from the data destination node to the data source node.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the forward status transmission channel and the backward status transmission channel are used for exchanging flow control information regarding transmission of data on the data transmission channel between the data source node and the data destination node.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the switching circuits includes at least one crossbar switch.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a system control processor, interconnections within each switching module between input ports and output ports of the switching module being reconfigurable as frequently as every clock cycle of the control processor under control of a program being executed by the control processor.

9. A method for dynamically forming a network using a plurality of switching modules arranged in ordered switching layers, each of the switching modules being interconnected with modules on at least one of a next-higher switching layer and a next-lower switching layer, each of the switching modules being dynamically switchable between a circuit-switched operation mode and a packet-switched operation mode, the method comprising:

determining an operating mode of the network, the operating mode being one of circuit-switched and packet-switched;

selecting one of the switching modules as the root switching module for the network;

designating as target modules all of the modules that are either directly or indirectly subsidiary to the root switching module;

transmitting mode selection signals to all of the target switching modules, the mode selection signals causing the target switching modules to switch to the determined operating mode; and

initiating the target switching modules into operation as a network.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

before transmitting the mode selection signals, determining if any of the target modules is part of an active network; and

for each target module that is part of an active network, sending stop signals to all switching modules included in the active network, thereby halting operation of the active network.

11. An arbitration method for controlling switching resources in a packet-switched network in response to connection requests by network nodes communicating through the network, the switching resources being arranged in an ordered plurality of switching levels having a highest level and a lowest level, whereby each switching module is interconnected with a plurality of modules at the next lower level, the plurality of modules at the next lower level including at least one of switching modules and network nodes, and each switching module that is not at the highest level is interconnected with exactly one switching module at the next higher level, the method comprising:

selecting the lowest switching level as the currently arbitrated level;

receiving of connection requests by the switching modules in the currently arbitrated level from modules in the next lower level, the connection requests being requests to connect source nodes with destination nodes, the connection requests including at least one of requests from network nodes in the next lower level and requests passed-through by switching modules in the next lower level from network nodes in levels below the next lower level;

granting requests for which the source node and the destination node are both direct or indirect subsidiaries of the same switching module in the currently arbitrated level by allocating switching resources of the switching module;

passing through to the next higher level requests and corresponding status information regarding connection requests for which the source node and the destination node are not both direct or indirect subsidiaries of the same switching module in the currently arbitrated level;

selecting the next higher switching level as the currently arbitrated level; and

repeating the steps of receiving, granting, passing through, and selecting the next higher switching level until resources have been allocated at all of the switching levels.

12. A system of network resources, the system comprising:

a plurality of network nodes;

a plurality of switching modules, the switching modules being arranged in an ordered plurality of switching levels having a highest level and a lowest level, each switching module being interconnected with a plurality of modules at the next lower level, the plurality of modules at the next lower level including at least one of switching modules and network nodes, and each switching module that is not at the highest level being interconnected with exactly one switching module at the next higher level;

a control processor; and

non-transient media containing software operable on the control processor so as to set switching configurations of the switching modules whereby input ports of each switching module are connected to output ports of the switching module, the switching configurations of the switching modules being settable every cycle of the control processor.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein switching levels can be added and removed from the ordered plurality of switching levels, thereby scaling the system to accommodate differing networking requirements.