EFFICIENT NETWORK MULTICAST SWITCHING APPARATUS AND METHODS
First Claim
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1. A network multicasting method using at least one switch, said method comprising:
- receiving at said switch a first multicast control message for removing an endstation from a multicast group specified in said message;
generating at said switch a second multicast control message in response to receipt of said first message by said switch, said second message being for querying as to endstation subscription status in said multicast group;
transmitting from a port of said switch that is associated with said endstation said second message; and
if said switch fails to receive via said port, within a predetermined time period, a third multicast control message indicating endstation subscription to said multicast group, preventing transmission via said port of a further multicast message associated with said multicast group.
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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.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A network multicasting method using at least one switch, said method comprising:
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receiving at said switch a first multicast control message for removing an endstation from a multicast group specified in said message;
generating at said switch a second multicast control message in response to receipt of said first message by said switch, said second message being for querying as to endstation subscription status in said multicast group;
transmitting from a port of said switch that is associated with said endstation said second message; and
if said switch fails to receive via said port, within a predetermined time period, a third multicast control message indicating endstation subscription to said multicast group, preventing transmission via said port of a further multicast message associated with said multicast group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A network multicasting method using at least one switch having a plurality of ports, said method comprising:
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receiving at said switch at least one message;
determining at said switch whether said at least one message is of a predetermined class of multicast control messages, based upon network and data link layer information contained in said at least one message; and
determining forwarding of said at least one message from said switch based upon whether said at least one message is determined at said switch to be of said class of control messages. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A network multicasting method for use with at least one switch, said method comprising:
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initializing said switch to process multicast messages in accordance with a first mode of operation of said switch associated with a first multicast protocol;
receiving at said switch at least one multicast message that is in accordance with a second multicast protocol different from said first protocol;
in response to receipt at said switch of said at least one multicast message, processing other multicast messages received by said switch in accordance with a second mode of operation of said switch that is different from said first mode of operation; and
if after starting to process said other multicast messages according to said second mode of operation a predetermined time period elapses wherein said switch does not receive an additional multicast message that is in accordance with said second protocol, resuming processing of received multicast messages by said switch in accordance with said first mode of operation.
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10. A switch, comprising:
a central forwarding engine (CFE) for making a forwarding decision for at least one message received by said switch, said decision being one of permitting said decision to be made by a network management processor of said switch and forwarding said message from at least one port of said switch selected based upon information in a bridge forwarding table of said switch, said CFE making said forwarding decision based upon whether said at least one message is an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) message and comparison of a media access control (MAC) group destination address in said at least one message with one of a plurality of predetermined MAC addresses. - View Dependent Claims (11)
Specification