Small group multicast in a computer network
US7720019B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 27, 2006 |
| Grant date | May 18, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 11, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/26
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A network packet is encapsulated and has at least one field in the header of the encapsulation. A multicast delivery tree is written into a field of the encapsulating header. A method for operating a router to use the multicast delivery tree encapsulated in the header of the network packet has the following steps. The router receives a packet from a computer network, the packet having an encapsulated field. The router then reads a multicast delivery tree from the encapsulated field, the multicast delivery tree having a route to each of a plurality of destination stations. Then, the router forwards the packet to an address selected in response to the multicast delivery tree.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.