Method and apparatus for multicast switching using a centralized switching engine
US6553028B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 30, 1999 |
| Grant date | Apr 22, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 30, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/16
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A technique implements forwarding operation shortcuts at a switch for multicast data traffic routed between subnetworks of a computer network. A first multicast frame is forwarded from the switch to a router, which peforms route processing and forwarding operations for a packet encapsulated within the frame. During execution of the operations, the router provides multicast flow and additional information concerning the routed packet to the switch in accordance with a novel multicast shortcut control protocol. The information is used by the switch to implement a novel multicast shortcut for subsequent frames received at the switch having the multicast packet flow.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.