Method and apparatus for direct frame switching using frame contained destination information
First Claim
1. A method of forwarding frames on a communication network, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a frame at a first switch;
extracting frame contained destination information from the received frame;
ascertaining from said frame contained destination information an output port on the switch; and
transmitting said frame from the output port.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Frame contained destination information may be used by a switch to identify an appropriate output port for a given frame without performing a table access operation. This reduces the processing requirements of the switch to enable the switch to handle frames more efficiently. The frame contained destination information may be contained in the frame'"'"'s local destination MAC addresses (DA) such that a portion of the DA directly indicates, for each switch that handles the frame, an output port for that switch. Different portions of the DA may be used by different switches, depending on where they are in the network hierarchy. Large switches may also use sub-fields within their allocated portion in the DA to identify internal switching components. A location resolution server may be provided to store and distribute IP and MAC addresses and respond to local ARP requests on the local domain.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of forwarding frames on a communication network, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a frame at a first switch;
extracting frame contained destination information from the received frame;
ascertaining from said frame contained destination information an output port on the switch; and
transmitting said frame from the output port. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A protocol data unit, comprising:
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a first field containing first destination information for use by a first switch to identify a first output port on the first switch; and
a payload portion. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of assigning a Media Access Control (MAC) address to an interface on a network, comprising:
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setting a local bit in the MAC address to indicate to network elements on the network that the MAC address is locally assigned; and
assigning a first value to a first field of the MAC address, said first value containing first output interface information usable by a first switch to identify a first output interface for transmission of frames containing said MAC address. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of performing Local Media Access Control (MAC) Address (LMA) resolution on a network, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving an LMA address resolution request; and
forwarding the LMA address resolution request to an LMA address resolution server to identify an LMA associated with the LMA address resolution request.
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Specification