Network coding is able to address output conflicts when fanout splitting is allowed for multicast switching.Hence,it successfully achieves a larger rate region than non-coding approaches in crossbar switches.However,network coding requires large coding buffers and a high computational cost on encoding and decoding.In this paper,we propose a novel Online Network Coding framework called Online NC for multicast switches,which is adaptive to constrained buffers.Moreover,it enjoys a much lower decoding complexity by a Vandermonde matrix based approach,as compared to conven-tional randomized network coding Our approach realizes online coding with one coding algo-rithm that synchronizes buffering and coding.Therefore,we significantly reduce requirements on buffer space,while also sustaining high throughputs.We confirm the superior advantages of our contributions using empirical studies.