Efficient network multicast switching apparatus and methods
US6785274B2 · kind B2 · utility
47Cited by
75References
25Claims
0Family size
Assignee
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Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 7, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 31, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 7, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L12/467
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Efficient switched network multicasting techniques are provided. Incoming multicast packets are processed by a central forwarding engine (CFE) in a network switch to generate forwarding indices used to make forwarding decisions for the packets based upon whether the packets are special multicast control packets or data packets. Forwarding of the special multicast control packets is determined by the switch's network management processor (NMP), while data packets are forwarded based upon conventional bridge forwarding techniques.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.