Fault-tolerant multistage interconnection network

In this paper, a new fault-tolerant Banyan (FTB) network design is proposed. The rules to add extra hardware and links to the regular Banyan network in order to get the new FTB network are presented. The work includes a modular design for a new 2 × 2 switch element that can be configured in different well-defined modes. In case an error occurs in the function of a switch in the FTB network, the switch can be bypassed and other switch in the network replaces its role. The most attractive feature of the new design is that it can maintain the original (regular) Banyan topology in the presence of faults. Consequently, the system performance will not be affected due to the occurrence of tolerable faults in the interconnection network. This feature makes our design different from all fault-tolerant designs. Moreover, multiple faults can be tolerated in the proposed FTB network. The FTB network will be very powerful in safety critical systems and applications where error can lead to catastrophic events.