Invalidity dossier
US 5418780
Added 9/23/2026, 5:53:26 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 5,418,780 A
Title: Routing logic means for a communication switching element
Patent number: US 5,418,780 A (application US 07/668,582)
Inventor: Michel A. R. Henrion
Original assignee: Alcatel N.V.; current assignee listed as Alcatel Lucent NV
Priority date: 1990-03-14 · Filing date: 1991-03-13 · Grant/publication date: 1995-05-23
Status: Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 2012-05-23)
Purpose. The patent addresses routing logic (RL) for a switching element (ISE) in a self-routing multi-stage switching network, where information is transferred from any inlet to at least one outlet according to routing data in an associated self-routing tag. The stated objects are: (1) to support switching elements of larger size (more inlets/outlets) and route information over a multiplicity of possible paths rather than a single deterministic path, improving performance and reliability; and (2) to allow flexible selection among a relatively large number of routing functions.
Plain-language scope. The switching element has at least three outlets, arranged into one or more "routing groups," each group containing from one to all outlets. The routing logic selects at least one routing group by deriving its identity from routing data containing at least one output-port-address, and transfers the information to one outlet belonging to each selected group. Separately, the self-routing tag includes a routing-control-code whose value selects, in each switching element, one of several routing functions to execute; each value identifies a specific transfer pattern — a predetermined sequence of routing functions executed across the network. Embodiments include unidirectional elements with 32 inlets/outlets, plus bidirectional and "reflection" arrangements using direction bits and grouped inlet/outlet sets (FIG. 1–3).
Not established by the excerpt. The supplied text is partial (it ends mid-sentence on routing groups) and includes no full claims, no prosecution history, and no prior-art analysis. It references other applications (Ser. No. 07/565,310; Ser. No. 07/776,337, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,565) only as incorporation by reference. Inventorship accuracy, claim scope, validity, ownership transfers, and litigation are not addressed.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:43:13 PM
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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