Physical Characteristics and Features

The FORE Systems TS-2800 Token Ring switch provides high-speed forwarding of Token Ring frames among the shared or dedicated Token Ring segments attached to each of the TS-2800 ports. The TS-2800 creates multiple, concurrent paths among the connected segments, each supporting the full, 16-Mbps Token Ring bandwidth.

The ATM uplink provided with the TS-2800 implements the industry-standard ATM Forum Token Ring LAN Emulation Over ATM, Version 1.0 Specification, generally referred to as ATM Token Ring LANE 1.0. ATM Token Ring LANE allows for the seamless flow of Token Ring over an ATM network, independent of higher layer protocols such as SNA, IP, and IPX.

The TS-2800 forwards Token Ring frames among multiple, shared or dedicated Token Ring LAN segments. Using a frame-forwarding technique similar to that of a multiport Token Ring transparent bridge, the TS-2800 uses both Token Ring MAC addresses and source-route descriptors to forward Token Ring frames from one of its ports to another.