Method and apparatus for authorizing multicast forwarding states
First Claim
1. An apparatus for authorizing multicast forwarding states includes:
- a switch having a plurality of input interfaces and a plurality of output interfaces, the switch including a forwarding table including an entry for each one of the output interface, the entry including a group and a flag, the group indicating a multicast group of which the apparatus desires to be a member and the flag indicating whether the apparatus is authorized to receive content for that group.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for authorizing forwarding states in a Layer 2 device of a multicast system includes a forwarding table for use in forwarding communications to group members over interfaces of the Layer 2 device. According to one aspect of the invention, associated with the forwarding state is an authorization flag. The authorization flag signals whether or not the forwarding state is an authorized forwarding state over which multicast communications may be transferred. The Layer 2 device snoops authorization communications between a host and a layer 3 device, and updates the forwarding table authorization flags in response to these communications.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. An apparatus for authorizing multicast forwarding states includes:
a switch having a plurality of input interfaces and a plurality of output interfaces, the switch including a forwarding table including an entry for each one of the output interface, the entry including a group and a flag, the group indicating a multicast group of which the apparatus desires to be a member and the flag indicating whether the apparatus is authorized to receive content for that group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for authorizing multicast forwarding states at a device includes the steps of:
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snooping communications between a router and a host, the communications including communications associated with group membership of the host;
detecting, at the device, a communication associated with group membership of the host, the communication identifying a group in which the host desires to be a member;
storing a forwarding state associated with the group in a forwarding table, the step of storing including setting a flag corresponding to the forwarding state to indicate that the forwarding state is unauthorized;
forwarding multicast communications to the host for the group in response to the flag. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A multicast system comprising:
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a host device;
a layer 2 device, coupled to the host device; and
a layer 3 device, coupled to the layer 2 device, the layer 3 device including authorization logic, for authorizing membership in a multicast group, wherein the host and the layer 3 device exchange communications regarding host group membership, the communications including authorization communications, and wherein the layer 2 device includes a table for storing forwarding states for groups associated with the host, the forwarding state including an authorization flag indicating whether the host is authorized to receive communications for the group, the authorization flag set in response to snooped authorization communications.
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Specification