TX Matrix System Architecture Description

The routing matrix has two main architectural components, the control plane and the forwarding plane:

• The control plane in the routing matrix is formed by the connection of the host subsystems—TX-CBs in the TX Matrix router and T-CBs in the T640 routers —and the Routing Engines.
• The forwarding plane in the routing matrix is formed by the switch fabric—TX-SIBs in the TX Matrix router and T640-SIBs in the T640 routers—and the Packet Forwarding Engines.

The Routing Engines and the Packet Forwarding Engines perform their primary tasks independently. This arrangement streamlines routing control and forwarding and runs Internet-scale backbone networks at high speeds. Figure 1 shows the relationship between the Routing Engines and the Packet Forwarding Engines.

Figure 1: Routing Matrix Architecture