A highly distributed switching system architecture

The author discusses modular software techniques supported by a fully distributed hardware system design and how this architecture will position network nodes for future demands. He describes the hardware design required to distribute functions to real-time processing areas within the architecture. He addresses how the system´s operating software must make intelligent decisions on resource management and peer communication. He describes how functional software is distributed to support growth from a small switching system to one with very large capacity. Finally, he shows how modular architectures provide the best means of satisfying the need for operating company programmability