A Simple Example
Consider a 2×2 banyan switch, which requires (2/2) log2 2 = 1 switching element. This switch takes two inputs, numbered 0 and 1, and two outputs, numbered 0 and 1. Every packet that comes in has a header that contains one bit indicating what its destination is (either 0 or 1). If the switch reads the bit and it has value 0, it sends the packet to its higher output (which is 0 in this case), and to its lower output if the routing bit is one. By connecting these switching elements in series and parallel it is possible therefore, to route packets in more complicated ways depending on the desired routes to establish.
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Famous quotes containing the word simple:
“At present the globe goes with a shattered constitution in its orbit.... No doubt the simple powers of nature, properly directed by man, would make it healthy and a paradise; as the laws of man’s own constitution but wait to be obeyed, to restore him to health and happiness.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)