Packet multicasting in a ring architecture
US6661790B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 6, 1999 |
| Grant date | Dec 9, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 6, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L12/42
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is based on a ring architecture wherein each chip in the multiplicity of chips is connected in a chain so that it can receive packets from the next previous chip in the chain and forward packets to the next following chip in the chain, whereby to form a ring. Before a packet is placed on the ring by a device it is provided with a ‘masking’ field which identifies each of the other devices and the ports within any such device to which the packet must be sent in order to achieve a multicast. When a device in its turn receives such a packet it will examine the masking field to determine whether the field identifies that device. If so, the packet, which may be held in temporary storage, may be processed for forwarding from a port of that device. The device will strip from the masking field the identification of the respective device and transmit the packet with a thus modified masking field to the next device in turn. If a packet does not contain any indication of another device in the ring, the packet will not be transmitted and therefore will naturally terminate.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.