Patent · US Active

Scalable MAC address distribution in an Ethernet fabric switch

US9401861B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
97References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 20, 2012
Grant dateJul 26, 2016
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 19, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L45/03
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch includes a notification mechanism. The notification mechanism constructs a single message that contains a locally learned MAC address associated with a local device, a TRILL RBridge identifier associated with the switch, and an identifier of an interface associated with the MAC address. In some embodiments, the switch includes a data structure and an entry management mechanism. The data structure stores device information learned at a remote switch, wherein the device information includes a MAC address of a device, a TRILL RBridge identifier associated with the remote switch, an identifier of an interface coupled to the device, and a type indicator of the MAC address. The entry management mechanism manages an entry in the data structure based on the RBridge identifier and the interface identifier.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.