Unicast, multicast, and broadcast method and apparatus
US6115379A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 11, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 5, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 11, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L12/1854
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
At least a portion of the data units in a bridge/router are processed by logic circuits according to cast type. The cast type, source address and destination address of an incoming data unit are determined by examining the header. For a unicast data unit, the source address and destination address are employed to obtain a transmit port indicator from memory, and the unicast data unit is directed to the port indicated by the transmit port indicator. For a non-unicast data unit, the source address and destination address are employed to obtain a first port mask that indicates valid ports for receipt of the data unit and a second port mask that indicates valid ports for transmission of the data unit from memory. The first and second port masks are combined to generate a third port mask, and the non-unicast data unit is directed to the ports indicated by the third port mask.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.