a packet switch 100 that includes a plurality of electronic edge modules 102 , 112 and an optical core module 103 is schematically illustrated in fig1 . each electronic edge module switches variable - sized packets . an edge module is commonly a dual module that comprises an ingress edge module 102 , for connecting data packet sources 109 to the optical core and an egress edge module 112 for connecting the optical core to data packet sinks 110 . the source and sink edge modules are not necessarily symmetrical ; they may have different outer capacities . a folded configuration of the packet switch shown in fig1 in which source and sink edge modules 102 , 112 are paired to share common memories is illustrated in fig2 . the optical core module 103 may be divided into a number of distributed core modules 302 in a distributed switch , illustrated in fig3 . the electronic edge modules 102 , 112 and the optical core modules 302 may be located in widely separated areas . the distributed switch 300 includes n & gt ; 1 electronic ingress / egress edge modules 102 and a number , c , of core modules 302 . each core module 302 includes a number of space switches . the core modules 302 need not necessarily include the same number of space switches . all the space switches ( not shown ) have the same number , n 1 , of input ports and output ports . the total number , l , of space switches in all the modules in the core equals the number of inner channels of each edge module 102 . in the example shown in fig3 there are 144 parallel space switches ( l = 144 ), each being a 32 × 32 space switch ( n 1 = 32 ), yielding a total inner capacity of 4608 ports ( 144 × 32 ). in the example of fig3 there is an expansion factor of 144 : 112 . the expansion is required to facilitate reconfiguration . the 144 space switches are grouped into 4 core modules of identical size , each core module including 36 space switches . each edge module 102 is connected to each of the m space switches in a core module 302 . a reconfiguration of the connections through the core modules 302 is periodically undertaken to respond to fluctuations in traffic volumes . when reconfiguration of a core module 302 is complete , new connections are established and the edge modules 102 start to transmit data through the new connections and refrain from transmitting data through released connections . since there is no buffering in the core , the switching of connections at the ingress edge modules 102 must be time - coordinated to coincide with reconfiguration of the core module 302 . this requires that control and timing circuitry be provided at the core modules 302 . a preferred arrangement for providing the control and timing circuitry is to collocate an edge module 102 with each of the core modules 302 and to use the collocated edge - module &# 39 ; s controllers to handle the timing coordination . this arrangement is illustrated in fig4 which shows the association of collocated edge modules 406 with core modules 302 . as noted above , the core modules may be of unequal size , i . e . the core modules 302 may respectively include a different number of space switches . the space switches in each core module 302 are preferably identical , and each core module includes at least two space switches . the number of space switches in a core module may differ from one core module to another . for example , in a switch having ingress edge modules with 280 inner channels ( and the same number of inner channels in each egress edge module ), the four core modules may have 80 , 64 , 96 , and 40 space switches , and the edge module &# 39 ; s inner channels would be distributed accordingly . non - uniformity in the sizes of the core modules 302 is one way to accommodate spatial traffic distributions . fig5 illustrates a reconfiguration of a single 4 × 4 space switch 506 , where inputs 502 { 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 } are reconfigured so that they are connected to outputs 504 { 0 , 3 , 1 , 2 } instead of outputs { 3 , 2 , 0 , 1 }. if the switching latency of space switch 506 a is high , several milliseconds for example , the reconfiguration may result in a high buffer occupancy at one or more of the ingress edge modules 102 delivering data through the optical core ( fig4 ). this problem can be avoided by configuring a parallel , idle space switch 506 b with the desired connection pattern and then switching to the idle space switch 506 b by redirecting data packet traffic from the edge modules 102 to the reconfigured connections on space switch 506 b . the released space switch 506 a thereafter becomes an idle space switch ready for a next reconfiguration . this approach forms the basis of the reconfiguration method according to an embodiment . however , it is emphasized that the use of an idle space switch 506 a , b for each active space switch 506 a , b that is to be reconfigured is not economically viable since it results in a 50 % core - capacity waste . instead , a spare space switch 506 b may be used to facilitate the reconfiguration of several other space switches 506 a , one at a time . a method of reconfiguring a multi - switch core using a small number of idle core switches is described below . an ingress edge 102 module may have two or more connections to an egress edge module 112 . the connections between the ingress edge module 102 and the egress edge module 112 are preferably routed through different space switches 103 of the same core module 302 , so that each route has the same propagation delay . when an ingress edge module controller determines that a reduction in the number of connections between itself and the egress edge module is appropriate because of a decrease in data traffic , it can release any of the connections . the selection of the connection to be released is crucial to the entire reconfiguration process , as will be described below in some detail . the high - capacity switch 100 shown in fig1 and 2 employs a large number of parallel space switches in the core . a few of the space switches may be used as idle switches for facilitating switching at the required rate to avoid excessive buffering and packet delay in the ingress edge modules 102 . however , with parallel space switches , the connections to be released may be threaded through different space switches , and their release might not yield a spare space switch . the invention therefore provides a method for organizing the reconfiguration process by selecting the space switch from which a connection is released so that idle connections are consolidated in a small number of space switches . the benefit of idle connection consolidation will become apparent from the description that follows . when an ingress edge module 102 requests the replacement of a connection to an egress edge module 112 a for a connection to an egress edge module 112 b ( fig1 ), releasing the first connection and establishing the second connection subsequently can only be done if the switching delay in the core is negligible . if the switching delay in the core is high , the second connection must be configured before the connection change is performed . it is therefore necessary to establish a connection from the ingress edge module 102 to the new egress edge module 112 b while preserving the connection from the ingress edge module 102 to the egress edge module 112 a . after the connection with the egress edge module 112 b is established , the ingress edge module 102 can reconfigure to use the connection to the egress edge module 112 b , and cease use of the connection to egress edge module 112 a . regardless of the utilization of the outer channels of the packet switch 100 , each of the edge modules 102 , 112 has at least d idle channels to each core module . d is preferably a small integer . with d = 1 , a core module having sixteen 8 × 8 space switches for example ( m = 16 , n = 8 ), would have 8 idle connections . if the 8 idle connections are threaded through 8 different space switches , the probability of successful assignment of a new reconfiguration request would be very low . if , on the other hand , the 8 idle connections are in one ( vacant ) space switch , then any permutation of the possible reconfiguration pattern can be accommodated . if k connections are released from a space switch , the number of new connections that can be accommodated in the same space switch is k ×( k − 1 ). if k = 1 , the space switch can not accept a new connection except for the connection that was just released , which is of no current interest . if k = 2 , two new connections can be added , if k = 8 , the number of possible new configurations is 56 and any 8 out of 56 possible new connections can be established . to begin a reconfiguration process , reconfiguration requests received from the ingress edge modules 102 are sorted into a release array 560 ( fig6 ) and a connection array 580 . each entry in array 560 has three fields 562 , 564 , and 566 that respectively store identifiers of an ingress edge module , an egress edge module , and a release space switch . each entry in array 580 has three fields 581 , 582 , and 584 the respectively store identifiers of a ingress edge module , a egress edge module , and a space switch to be used for a new connection . the release space switch 566 and the connection space switch 584 result from a procedure described below . arrays 560 , 580 are used to organize the releases and the new connections in such a way as to increase the vacancy discrepancy among the core space switches 103 ( fig1 ). this is accomplished by a most advantageous selection of the release switches . as described above , vacancy consolidation increases the opportunity of establishing new connections . a release list 642 and a connection list 652 ( fig7 ) result from a reconfiguration process . the release list 642 contains a first entry 644 indicating the number of releases . the first entry 644 is followed by a number of segments 645 equal to the number of releases . each segment 645 includes three fields : an identifier 647 of an ingress edge module , an identifier 648 of an egress edge module , and an identifier 649 of the space switch from which the connection is to be released . a connection array 652 has a first entry 654 indicating a sum of the number of connection requests , and a number of unsuccessful connection attempts accumulated from previous reconfiguration cycles . following the first entry 654 are a plurality of segments 655 as indicated in entry 654 . each segment 655 includes an identifier 657 of an ingress edge module , an identifier 968 of an egress edge module , and an identifier 659 indicating the space switch that will accommodate the new connection , determined using a process that will be described below . the construction of arrays 642 and 652 is the outcome of the reconfiguration computation . in the conventional packing process used to reduce call blocking in circuit - switched networks , a switching node scans all the paths between an input port and an output port until a free path is located . the scanning process always starts with a designated reference path and proceeds to examine the subsequent paths in a given order . the release and connection processes are separate events . in accordance with the present invention , the release and connection processes are conducted in batches in order to maximize the opportunity of successful reconfiguration . batch processing affords the opportunity of advantageous trade - off of free channels when a connection can choose from two or more available routes . furthermore , in one embodiment , both the releases and connections are implemented in an iterative way that selects the space switch 103 to be reconfigured by comparing a space switch connectivity array ( to be explained below with reference to fig8 ) with the reconfiguration requests received from the ingress edge modules 102 . the process therefore selects the connections to be released , whereas in ordinary circuit - switching operations , the connection to be released is determined by a network user , not the switch controller . with reference once more to fig6 each ingress edge module 102 communicates a reconfiguration request array 522 to a selected core module 302 . the reconfiguration request array 522 lists connection changes required to accommodate fluctuations in data traffic . the first entry 524 contains the number of connection changes requested . each connection change is specified in subsequent segments 526 . each segment 526 includes three fields : the identifier 532 of the requesting edge module ; the identifier 534 of the current egress edge module to which the ingress edge module is connected ; and , the identifier 536 of the egress edge module to which the ingress edge module requires a connection . the reconfiguration request lists 522 received by each core module controller 406 ( fig4 ) are aggregated in a release list 560 , and a connection list 580 . a first method of core reconfiguration uses a fixed - pattern packing process , while a second method uses an adaptive - pattern packing process . both the first and second methods use batch packing . two variations of each process are described , one for a fast switching core , and one for a slow switching core . in each core module 302 , connections are assigned starting from a reference space switch and proceeding in a predetermined order to the other space switches . connection releases proceed in exactly the opposite order . without loss of generality , the space switches of a core module 302 may be labeled as 0 to m - 1 . connection assignment can start from space - switch 0 and proceed in a sequential order to space switches 1 , 2 , . . . , to m - 1 where the cycle automatically repeats . the release process starts from space switch m - 1 and proceeds in sequential order to m - 2 , m - 3 , . . . to space switch 0 , where the release cycle automatically repeats . if the switching delay in the core modules is negligible , the release list 642 ( fig7 ) is executed first followed by the connection list 652 . when the release list 642 is executed first , each released connection is assigned a state of “ 10 ”, indicating a connection just released . when the connection list 652 is executed , the new connections are assigned a state of “ 01 ”, indicating a connection just established . if the switching delay in the core modules is high , the connection list 652 is executed first , followed by the execution of the release list 642 . the connection - then - release order is required to avoid the need for a respective source edge module to interrupt data transfer during a reconfiguration procedure . a new connection in response to a reconfiguration request must use an optical space switch other than the optical space switch supporting a respective connection to be released . fig8 shows a data structure 682 for tracking the connectivity of the m space switches 103 in a core module 302 to determine the reconfiguration of the core module . in a core module 302 comprising m space switches 103 , the space switches are preferably labeled as c to m - 1 . an array 684 of n entries is associated with each space switch , n being the number of ingress edge modules 102 . the array 684 indicates the connectivity of a respective space switch 103 . for example , in space switch 0 , ingress module 0 is connected to egress module 2 , ingress module 1 is connected to egress module 7 , and so on . array 684 a is associated with a completely - vacant space switch in this example . each entry 688 in the connectivity array 684 has two fields . the first field in each entry in the array 684 is the output port number to which the corresponding input port in a respective space switch is connected . a null entry in the first field indicates that input port j is idle . the second field is two bits wide ( not illustrated ) and is used to indicate the state of a connection specified by the value of the first field . the two bits permit the storage of three state indicators , “ 00 ”, “ 01 ” and “ 10 ”. the state indicators may be used to facilitate connection re - packing by enabling connection status to be recorded and recognized . a state of “ 00 ” indicates an idle connection ; a state of “ 01 ”, indicates a connection just established ; and , a state of “ 10 ”, indicates a connection just released . the re - packing process is not used in this disclosure . the number ( count ) of uncommitted connections in each space switch is recorded in array 692 . array 694 is used as a work array that is accumulated into a pointer for facilitating the selection of a sequential order for reconfiguring the space switches . array 696 stores the space switch identifiers , sorted in an ascending order according to the vacancy of the respective space switches . the vacancy of a space switch is represented by the number of its idle output ports or , equivalently , the number of uncommitted connections . in the case of multicast , the number of active output ports exceeds the number of active input ports . a connection reconfiguration may be viewed as a release of a connection , followed by a request for a new connection to a different egress edge module 112 . array 560 ( fig6 ) shows a set of released connections and array 580 shows a set of requested new connections . in order to select a space switch from which a connection is to be released , a release array 560 ( fig6 ) indicating the connections selected for release is matched with each of the m connectivity arrays 684 . the number of resulting idle connections is determined . the space switch 103 that will have the highest vacancy after release of a respective subset of connections is selected . the connectivity array 684 of the selected space switch is removed from the list of connections to be released and the connection subset to be released is copied to the reconfiguration list 622 ( fig7 ). the process is repeated with the remainder of the release array 560 until all the releases are assigned to space switches 103 . reconfiguration list 622 ( fig7 ) is used to store all the release allocations . array 692 ( fig8 ) stores the number of idle connections in each of the m space switches 103 . array 694 ( fig8 ) stores the vacancy of each space switch . each space switch having a vacancy exceeding one is a candidate for receiving a connection . the assignment of connections to space switches 103 starts by attempting space switches with 2 idle connections , followed by space switches with higher vacancies in an ascending order . after all the connections are assigned to space switches , or when no further connections can be assigned , the connection assignment process is terminated . the lists of connection releases 642 ( fig7 ) and connection assignments 652 are merged in the reconfiguration list 622 ( fig7 ). some entries in reconfiguration list 622 will only include releases . this occurs when an associated connection of a reconfiguration request can not be made . other entries in the reconfiguration list 622 will only include connections , if the associated releases were implemented in a previous cycle . as mentioned earlier , at least one connection from each ingress edge module 102 to each core module 302 should be kept as an idle connection that cannot be used for a committed connection . this is required to facilitate the reconfiguration process without having to rearrange a large number of connections , which can be time consuming . after each possible committed connection has been assigned , unassigned channels from ingress edge modules 102 and unassigned channels to egress edge modules 112 can be paired to form temporary connections ( uncommitted connections ) used for the transfer of connectionless traffic . it should be noted that during normal network operation , a significant proportion of connections may be idle . this significantly facilitates the reconfiguration process . if switching time in the core modules is negligible , releases can be effected prior to new connections . otherwise , new connections are considered first as will be explained below . a connection assignment process for a distributed switch 300 ( fig3 ) having a core modules 302 comprising parallel space switches with a negligible switching delay is described with reference to fig9 . a release array 560 and connection array 580 are formulated in step 702 , using reconfiguration arrays 524 ( fig6 ) sent from the ingress edge modules 102 . in step 704 , the release array 560 is examined to determine if it is empty . if not , ( step 712 ) a congruence level of the release array 560 and the connectivity array 684 ( fig8 ) of each space switch is determined and the connectivity array 684 with the highest congruence level is selected . in step 716 , the congruent entries are deleted from the release array 560 and marked as vacant in the selected connectivity array 684 . the process of steps 712 and 716 are repeated , excluding connectivity arrays 684 that have already been considered , and in each iteration looking for the space switch 103 having the connectivity array 684 with the highest congruence level with the remainder of the release array 560 ( fig6 ). when all the releases have been effected , step 704 directs the process to step 714 where an attempt to accommodate the connection requests is made . in the connection process , space switches 103 having a vacancy of at least two idle connections are sorted in an ascending order of vacancy , starting with space switches 103 having at least 2 idle connections and proceeding to space switches with more than two idle connections . the space switches are then examined in ascending order of vacancy to determine what new connections listed in the connection array 580 ( fig6 ) can be assigned . when the space switches of a vacancy of 2 are considered , the space switches that can accommodate two connections from the connection array 580 are selected first , followed by the space switches that can accommodate only one connection from the connection array 580 . this process proceeds by considering switches having a vacancy of 3 idle connections . an attempt is made to accommodate the remaining connections by first selecting space switches 103 , of core module 302 undergoing a reconfiguration , that can accommodate three connections from the connection array 580 . this is followed by considering space switches 103 that can accommodate two connections from the connection array 580 . thereafter , space switches are considered that can accommodate only one connection from the connection array 580 . space switches with higher vacancies , if any , are used in the same fashion . the process continues in this manner by iterating steps 714 and 718 until no further progress can be made , as determined in step 706 , because the connection array 580 is empty , or none of the connections remaining in the connection array 580 can be accommodated in the current connection scheduling cycle . if some of the connections in the connection array 580 cannot be accommodated , the remainder of the connection array 580 containing the unsuccessful connections is retained for processing during a subsequent connection assignment cycle . the release list 642 ( fig7 ) is generated by the release process in steps 704 , 712 , and 716 and the connection list 652 ( fig7 ) is generated by the connection process in steps 706 , 714 , and 718 . the release list 642 and connection list 652 are processed in step 722 in which reconfiguration messages are formulated to initiate the reconfiguration process . fig1 is a flow chart of a process used for connection release and assignment preparatory to core reconfiguration in a distributed switch 300 having core modules 302 with space switches 103 having a high switching latency . the release array 560 and connection array 580 are formulated in step 702 as described above with respect to fig9 . the establishment of new connections is executed first . space switches 103 having a vacancy of at least two idle connections , as indicated by connectivity arrays 684 ( fig8 ), are sorted in an ascending order of vacancy . the space switches with a vacancy of 2 , having 2 idle connections , are considered first . space switches that can accommodate two connections are selected first , followed by space switches that can accommodate only one connection . the process then proceeds by considering connectivity arrays 684 for space switches having a vacancy of 3 idle connections . an attempt is first made to assign the remaining connections by selecting space switches that can accommodate three connections each . space switches that can accommodate two connections each are considered second . finally , space switches that can accommodate only one connection are considered . space switches with higher vacancies , if any , are used in the same fashion . thus , space switches of the same vacancy are differentiated according to the number of connection - requests that can be accommodated . the process continues by iterating steps 762 and 766 until no further progress can be made , as determined in step 754 . further progress cannot be made when either the connection array is empty or none of the remaining in the connection array can be accommodated in the current scheduling cycle . in the latter case , the remainder of the connection array containing the connections that could not be assigned is retained for processing during a subsequent scheduling cycle . the release process is then executed in such a way as to attempt to maximize an occupancy variance between the space switches in the core module 302 . in step 764 , the congruence level of the release array 560 and the connectivity array 684 of each space switch is determined and the connectivity array 684 with the highest congruence level is selected to begin the release process . in step 768 , the congruent entries are deleted from the release array 560 and marked as idle in the selected connectivity array 684 . the process of steps 764 and 768 are repeated , excluding connectivity arrays 684 for space switches that have already been considered for releases , and during each iteration determining a connectivity space switch with the highest congruence level with the remainder of the release array 560 . when all the releases are effected , step 756 directs the process to step 772 . the release list 642 is generated in steps 764 and 768 by the release process , and the connection list 652 is generated in steps 754 and 766 by the connection process . the two lists are processed in step 772 , where reconfiguration messages are formulated to initiate the reconfiguration process at the edge modules . all connections are provisioned in units of a channel capacity . a channel capacity is typically of an order of 10 gb / s . data traffic without a guaranteed quality of service ( unprotected traffic ) can be transferred using excess capacity , if any , of committed connections the transfer of unprotected traffic using excess capacity of committed connections is controlled exclusively by the edge modules . under any traffic condition , each edge module has at least one idle channel connected to one of the space switches 103 in each core module . the total number , j , of idle channels emanating from an ingress edge module is at least equal to a number , c , of core modules 302 ( fig3 ). similarly , a number , k , of idle channels terminating on an egress edge module is at least equal to the number c of core modules . the number j may be larger than the number k if channel multicast is supported . a connection is made up of two channels , a first channel from an ingress edge module 102 to a designated core space switch 103 , and a second channel from the designated core space switch 103 to an egress edge module 112 . idle channels from ingress edge modules 102 to a particular core module 302 and idle channels from the core module 302 to egress edge modules 112 can be paired to form uncommitted connections . as defined above , an uncommitted connection carries ‘ best - effort ’ traffic that is not given any quality - of - service guarantees . thus , an uncommitted connection can be released if either of its channels is required to form a committed connection . the release process , however , must ensure that no data is lost . the reconfiguration procedure described above only establishes committed connections and treats the channels forming uncommitted connections as if they were idle channels . once the reconfiguration of committed connections is completed , new idle channels are formed and some uncommitted connections may be terminated . resulting idle channels may be paired again to form new uncommitted connections . the reconfiguration process at the ingress edge module is indifferent respecting the type of connection being established . the ability to define the uncommitted connections depends largely on the spatial distribution of the idle channels . in one extreme , if all the channels to and from one of the space switch are idle , a permutation of connections from any ingress edge module 102 to any egress edge module 112 can be made . in the other extreme , if the idle channels are distributed uniformly among m space switches , with m ≧ n , so that there are at least n space switches each having one free ingress channel and one free egress channel , then only n specific uncommitted connections can be made . the reconfiguration procedure therefore attempts to broaden the variance in occupancy between the space switches 103 within each core module 302 . thus , when the reconfiguration is complete , a small number of space switches likely support most of the idle channels . this increases the probability of successfully establishing connections requested by the ingress edge modules . each ingress edge module 102 may have several ingress ports ( not shown ), preferably of an order of 128 . at each ingress port of an ingress edge module 102 , the traffic is sorted into traffic streams ( not shown ), each of which corresponds to an egress edge module 112 . each traffic stream is assigned to a traffic stream queue . the traffic stream queues normally share a common memory . the management of the traffic stream queues includes packet - level scheduling and is governed by rules that are internal to each ingress edge module 102 and may differ from one ingress edge module to another . the ingress queues in each ingress edge module 102 may be split into two main categories . the first relates to rate - controlled protected traffic and the second relates to unprotected traffic with no quality of service guarantees . within each category , the traffic may be further separated into narrower classifications . those classifications are not necessarily visible outside the ingress edge module . a traffic stream is defined only by an ingress / egress module pair . the composition of a traffic stream is determined by its ingress edge module . at least one output port of each ingress edge module carries only unprotected traffic and the access privilege to that port or ports is governed by rules internal to the ingress edge module . the controller of each ingress edge module determines the required capacity , expressed in units of channels , for each of its traffic streams and reports the required capacity to a respective core module . as explained above , the channels of each ingress edge module are divided among the core modules . as noted above , an ingress edge module 102 has at least one channel to each of the core modules that can be assigned to carry unprotected traffic . the core reconfiguration procedure treats channels carrying unprotected traffic as if they were completely idle . when committed connections for protected traffic are assigned , the remaining idle channels in the core are paired to form new uncommitted connections that may differ from previously configured ones . if there are two or more idle input channels to a core module 302 , the core module controller 406 ( fig4 ) attempts to maximize the number of uncommitted connections that match the requests received from the ingress edge modules 102 . if there is only one idle input channel , then only one uncommitted connection can be made . with multiple core modules , a protocol is required for maximizing the utilization of the uncommitted connections . a preferred simple protocol requires each ingress edge module to broadcast its requirement for uncommitted connections to all core modules . each core module grants an appropriate connection to a respective ingress edge module with a round - robin fairness . as described above , a part of the unprotected traffic may use excess capacity of committed connections . to serve any remaining unprotected traffic , each ingress edge module 102 generates a list of preferred uncommitted connections based on the spatial distribution of the remaining unprotected traffic . the preferred core module 302 for each entry in the list is determined using a preferred routing list identical to one used for the committed connections . if an ingress edge module 102 has a single idle channel to a given core module 302 , the core module 302 can only support one uncommitted connection for that ingress edge module 102 . nonetheless , the ingress edge module 102 may identify several candidate uncommitted connections for each core module 302 and communicate the identities of such connections to a respective core module 302 . preferably , a rank indicative of the volume , or any other property , of the respective unprotected traffic should also be communicated to a respective core module . each core module may then select the candidate uncommitted connections using the data it receives from all subtending ingress edge modules 102 . the selection takes into account the rank of each candidate . the selection is then communicated by each core module 302 to the ingress edge modules 102 . the reconfiguration process at the ingress edge modules combines both the committed and uncommitted connections . however , the committed and uncommitted connections are identified so that traffic with a guaranteed quality of service is not sent over an uncommitted connection . fig1 illustrates a preferred architecture for an edge module switch 102 , 112 in accordance with the invention . the switch is preferably an electronic rotator switch as described in applicant &# 39 ; s co - pending united states patent application entitled rate - controlled multi - class high - capacity packet switch which was filed on feb . 4 , 1999 and assigned ser . no . 09 / 224 , 824 , the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference . the edge module switch includes a plurality of ingress parts 1158 connected to an input rotator 1502 , and an output rotator 1504 connected to a plurality of egress ports 1160 . the ingress ports 1158 are connected to subtending data packet sources ( not shown ) and the egress ports 1160 are connected to subtending data packet sinks ( not shown ). the input rotator 1502 and the output rotator 1504 are respectively connected to a plurality of parallel middle memories 1520 by inner links 1162 and 1164 in a manner explained in detail in applicant &# 39 ; s co - pending patent application . both ingress ports 1158 and egress ports 1160 have packet queues ( not shown ). fig1 illustrates the relative timing of input rotator 1502 and output rotator 1504 in an 8 × 8 port high - capacity packet switch 102 , 112 . the arrows 1506 and 1508 indicate a direction of rotation of the respective rotators . an input port 1512 of input rotator 1502 connects to a correspondingly numbered output port 1514 of the same rotator at cyclic time t = 0 . the cyclic time period equals the number of input ports of the rotator times a memory access duration “ d ”. the memory access duration is a time period during which an input port 1512 of input rotator 1502 writes data units to a middle memory 1520 . an input port 1516 also connects to an output port 1518 of an output rotator 1504 during the memory access time of duration “ d ”. fig1 also illustrates the connectivity of input port “ 0 ”, indicated by reference number 1512 , to the respective output ports 1514 ( 0 , . . . 7 ) during a rotator cycle . given the counter - clockwise rotation indicated by arrow 1506 , input “ of ” of rotator 1502 is connected respectively to output ports “ 0 ”, “ 7 ”, “ 6 ”, “ 5 ”, “ 4 ”, “ 3 ”, “ 2 ”, and “ 1 ” during access intervals 0 to 7 . arrow 1508 indicates the clockwise rotation of the output rotator 1504 . likewise , for the output rotator 1504 , the input port “ 0 ” ( reference 1516 ) is connected respectively to output ports “ 0 ”, “ 1 ”, . . . , “ 7 ”, during access intervals 0 to 7 . each output port 1514 of input rotator 1502 writes data units ( the amount of data transferred during an access interval ) to a middle memory 1520 during each access interval . each access interval is split into roughly equal write and read periods . each input port 1516 of output rotator 1504 subsequently reads the data units from the middle memories 1520 during the rotator cycle . during each access interval , the read address for the middle memories 1520 is advanced by a predetermined data unit width “ w ”. the value of “ w ” is a design parameter determined by the amount of data to be written to , and read from , a middle memory 1520 during an access interval “ d ”. the values indicated by reference numeral 1522 represent the read addresses of respective middle memories 1520 at the beginning of a rotator cycle ( t = 0 ). the write addresses of the middle memories 1520 are determined by the input ports 1512 of the input rotator 1502 . this timing pattern is used to determine middle memory access restrictions during a rotator cycle prior to a reconfiguration of the ingress edge module 102 , as will be explained in more detail with reference to fig1 . the time at which an ingress edge module 102 must reconfigure to conform with changes in connectivity in the core is dictated by a controller 406 of an associated core module 302 ( fig4 ). the reconfiguration period is likely to be significantly longer than the rotator cycle , an edge module must , however , implement its reconfiguration at a boundary of an access interval . the access interval is typically of an order of a fraction of a microsecond . when an input port 1512 writes a data unit to the middle memories 1520 , the data unit is not read from the middle memories 1520 for a period of time ranging from half an access interval to almost a full rotator cycle . consequently , under a “ steady state ” condition between core reconfigurations , in which the input to output connectivity of an ingress edge module 102 remains unchanged , data units are read from the middle memories 1520 by the input ports 1516 of the output rotator up to nearly a full rotator cycle after they are written . when a reconfiguration of the ingress edge module must be performed to conform to changes in the core , however , it is imperative that data units not be written to a middle memory if they cannot be read from the middle memory by the intended output before reconfiguration . otherwise , the data units in the middle memories may be sent to the wrong input port 1516 of the output rotator 1504 . the latency between the writing of a data unit to the middle memories 1520 and the reading of the data unit from the middle memories , is dependent on a spatial relationship between the output port 1514 of the input rotator 1502 and the input port 1516 of the output rotator 1504 . consequently , an output port 1514 can only write a data unit to the middle memories if enough time remains before reconfiguration for the data unit to be read by the intended output port 1518 . this timing issue is explained below in more detail . fig1 illustrates the process of reconfiguration in a rotator - based switch . the column 1532 represents data written by an output port 1514 of the input rotator 1502 . the data written to column 1532 is destined for the output port “ 2 ” ( reference 1518 ) of the output rotator 1504 . output port “ 2 ” only transfers data read from column 2 of each middle memory 1520 . a reconfiguration command received from a core module 302 ( fig4 ) directs the ingress edge module 102 to switch output from port “ 2 ” to port “ 7 ”. the input rotator responds to the command by changing the write address from 2 to 7 for the input port currently writing to column 2 . this is a simple control operation in a rotator - based switch . fig1 illustrates a limitation imposed on each input port 1512 that is writing to an output port 1518 during a changeover phase immediately prior to reconfiguration . the numbers shown in arrays 1520 , represent cyclical time slots ( the cycle being 8 for an 8 × 8 switch ) at which an input port 1512 or an output port 1518 is accessing the respective memory to respectively write and read . if an output port 1518 ( x ) is to change connectivity during a core reconfiguration , the incumbent input port 1512 ( j ) can only write to the output port ( x ) during cyclical time slots 0 to [ n ′− 1 + j − x ] modulo n ′, n ′ being the number of ports of either rotator . for example , if input port 7 ( j = 7 ) is connected to output port 4 ( x = 4 ), then during a changeover cycle , input port 7 can only write to output port 4 during time slots 0 to [ 8 − 1 + 7 − 4 ], i . e ., 0 to [ 10 ], i . e ., 0 to 2 . to illustrate this , by comparing the contents of column 7 and column 4 , it is apparent that each entry in column 7 ( when the input port 7 writes ) is respectively less than a corresponding entry in column 4 ( when the output port 4 reads ) only at time slots 0 , 1 , and 2 . writing must precede reading during the changeover cycle , otherwise , the data written may be overwritten by the new input port connected to output port x by the reconfiguration process . reconfiguration of the core modules 302 is governed by the ingress edge modules 102 , which request changes in connectivity based on dynamic traffic pattern changes . the ingress edge modules 102 constantly monitor traffic stream buffers and request new connections when traffic volumes warrant . likewise , unused links are released to permit other ingress edge modules 102 to use the core resources , if required . as explained above , each ingress edge module refers to a preferred routing list that indicates the particular core module 302 to which a request for changes in connectivity and connection releases are sent . requests may be sent from the ingress edge modules at any time , although the core modules 302 can only reconfigure in accordance with a predetermined schedule . although the requests for connection releases and changes in connectivity are generated by the ingress edge modules 102 and the core modules 302 reconfigure only in response to those requests , the core controller determines autonomously what reconfiguration occurs based on one of the algorithms described above . after the core module 302 has determined the reconfigured connectivity of core switches it controls , reconfiguration messages are sent to each of the respective ingress edge module controllers informing the controller of a time when reconfiguration of the core will occur . in order to ensure successful transition through a reconfiguration , it is critical that all ingress edge modules 102 pause for a relatively - short period ( a fraction of a microsecond should suffice ) at the time of reconfiguration of a core module 302 . the pause period is determined by a timing - discrepancy allowance ( a fraction of a microsecond ) and source - edge - module reconfiguration delay ( for example , a 100 nanoseconds ). if core - switching - latency masking is not applied , the core switching delay must also be added to the pause period ( guard time ). due to propagation delays , relative times must be used to govern reconfiguration coordination . consequently , each edge module controller has a timing circuit that includes time counters synchronized to the relative times of each core module controller . in the distributed switch 300 shown in fig4 each edge module controller includes four time counters , one for each core module 302 . a timing packet is periodically sent from each core module controller 406 to ensure that the time counters in the edge module controllers are synchronized . timing coordination in a distributed switch is explained in detail in applicant &# 39 ; s co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 286 , 431 entitled self - configuring distributed switch which was filed on apr . 6 , 1999 , the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference . the agile optical - core distributed packet switch in accordance with the invention provides a self - governing switch that dynamically adapts to changes in traffic loads . control is exercised from edge modules that determine how core connectivity is to be arranged by requesting changes to the connectivity in the core . core modules operate autonomously to effect the requested changes in a manner that maximizes reconfiguration flexibility while ensuring that as many requests are honored as possible . changes and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the invention will no doubt become apparent to persons skilled in the art . the scope of the invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims .