 The egress stage has "r" switches, each of which has "m" inputs and "n" outputs.The relative values of "m" and "n" define the blocking characteristics of the Clos network.If "m" ≥ 2"n"−1, the Clos network is "strict-sense nonblocking", meaning that an unused input on an ingress switch can always be connected to an unused output on an egress switch, "without having to re-arrange existing calls".