Method and apparatus for multicast implementation in a routed ethernet mesh network
US9444720B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 5, 2009 |
| Grant date | Sep 13, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 14, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N1/333
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Interest in multicast group membership may be advertised via a routing system on an Ethernet network along with an indication of an algorithm to be used by the nodes on the network to calculate the distribution tree or trees for the multicast. Each node, upon receipt of the advertisement, will determine the algorithm that is to be used to produce the multicast tree and will use the algorithm to calculate whether it is on a path between nodes advertising common interest in the multicast. Example algorithms may include shortest path algorithms and spanning tree algorithms. This allows multicast membership to be managed via the routing control plane, while enabling spanning tree processes to be used to forward multicast traffic. Since spanning tree is able to install multicast state per service rather than per source per service, this reduces the amount of forwarding state required to implement multicasts on the routed Ethernet mesh network.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.