Aggregating ports while allowing access to singleton ports
US8320386B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 13, 2009 |
| Grant date | Nov 27, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 28, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02D30/50
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Disclosed is a method for aggregating parallel data links connecting two end-point devices into a logical link. If one of the parallel data links is a multi-point link, then an end-point device can still access that link to route traffic to an end station on the link (that is, to a device other than the other end-point device of the logical data link). In the terminology of this disclosure, the logical aggregated link is accessed through an “aggregated port” on an end-point device, while the constituent multi-point link is accessed directly through a “singleton port.” By assigning a smaller cost to the aggregated port than to the singleton port, embodiments avoid creating routing loops. In some embodiments, the aggregation is performed at Layer 2 of the Open System Interconnection seven-layer protocol model. Then, the methods of the present invention work well with existing IEEE 802.1 bridging architectures and protocols.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.