US Patent 11962515 Deterministic communications via packet-switched networks

In certain embodiments, a communication network has a specialized ingress node that converts one or more incoming flows into a single, packetized, time-division multiplexed (TDM) flow; a switch fabric that routes the TDM flow via a fixed path through the switch fabric in a contention-free manner; and a specialized egress node that converts the TDM flow received from the switch fabric into one or more outgoing flows corresponding to the one or more incoming flows. The technology turns legacy, best-effort packet-switching into deterministic circuit-switching for a programmable selection of flows with minimal impact on network dynamics and at relatively low cost.