Apparatus and method for transmitting multi protocol label switching (MPLS) multicast packets over Ethernet
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transmitting a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) multicast packet at each node in an Ethernet network comprising at least one node, the apparatus comprising:
- a database for storing address information for MPLS multicast packet transmission;
a determiner for determining whether a packet received from another node is the MPLS multicast packet, and when the received packet is the MPLS multicast packet, determining whether an address of the received packet exists in the database;
a packet processor for determining which node the MPLS multicast packet in which the address exists in the database is transmitted to and allocating an MPLS label according to an address of the determined node; and
a mapper for mapping the allocated MPLS label to an Ethernet destination medium access control (MAC) address of the packet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for transmitting multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) multicast packets over Ethernet are provided. The apparatus and method determine whether a received packet is an MPLS multicast packet; determine whether an address of the received packet exists in a database storing address information for MPLS multicast packet transmission; determine which node the MPLS multicast packet whose address exists in the database is transmitted to and allocating an MPLS label according to the address of the determined node; and map the allocated MPLS label to an Ethernet destination MAC address of the packet in order to realize simple switching by mapping an MPLS label, rather than a conventional IP address, to an Ethernet destination medium access control (MAC) address, thereby utilizing advantages of an MPLS network.
26 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An apparatus for transmitting a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) multicast packet at each node in an Ethernet network comprising at least one node, the apparatus comprising:
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a database for storing address information for MPLS multicast packet transmission;
a determiner for determining whether a packet received from another node is the MPLS multicast packet, and when the received packet is the MPLS multicast packet, determining whether an address of the received packet exists in the database;
a packet processor for determining which node the MPLS multicast packet in which the address exists in the database is transmitted to and allocating an MPLS label according to an address of the determined node; and
a mapper for mapping the allocated MPLS label to an Ethernet destination medium access control (MAC) address of the packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for transmitting a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) multicast packet at each node in an Ethernet network comprising at least one node, the apparatus comprising:
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a first database for storing address information for MPLS multicast packet transmission;
a second database for storing address information for IP multicast packet transmission;
a determiner for determining the type of a packet received from another node, determining whether an address of the received packet exists in the first database when the received packet is the MPLS multicast packet, and determining whether an address of the received packet exists in the second database when the received packet is an IP multicast packet;
a packet processor for determining which node the packet whose address exists in the first database or the second database is transmitted to and allocating the address of the determined node to the packet; and
a mapper for mapping the allocated address to an Ethernet destination MAC address of the packet. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A process for transmitting a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) multicast packet at each node in an Ethernet network comprising at least one node performing a method comprising steps of:
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receiving a packet;
determining whether the received packet is the MPLS multicast packet;
determining whether an address of the received packet exists in a database when the received packet is the MPLS multicast packet, the database storing address information for MPLS multicast packet transmission;
determining which node the MPLS multicast packet whose address exists in the database is transmitted to and allocating an MPLS label according to the address of the determined node; and
mapping the allocated MPLS label to an Ethernet destination MAC address of the packet. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification