Patent attributes
An illustrative embodiment of the present invention includes a method for routing at least one packet from at least one source node to at least one destination node, each node is operatively coupled to a given packet switch within a plurality of packet switches operatively coupled to a given circuit switch. The method includes a step of establishing one or more Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs). Each VLAN comprising a subset of the plurality of packet switches operatively coupled to the given circuit switch. At least one of the one or more VLANs comprises the at least one packet switch to which the source and destination nodes are operatively coupled. The method also includes a step of routing the at least one packet from the source node to the destination node over at least one loop-free path comprised of one or more packet switches within a given VLAN.
