Multicast operations using prioritized state information
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- associating a first multicast entry with a first class;
associating a second multicast entry with a second class; and
selecting one of the first and second multicast entries, wherein said selecting is determined using the first and second classes.
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Abstract
A classification mechanism to allow selected classes of multicast entries to be acted upon in a chosen order of priority during multicast distribution tree convergence is provided. Such prioritization allows for the designation of customers, networks or multicast groups to receive faster convergence of multicast distribution trees to modified multicast distribution trees in response to unavailability of an upstream router, and in performing other multicast-related tasks (e.g., PIM joins and prunes). One aspect of the present invention provides for multicast entries (also called multicast states) that are at a same priority level to be acted upon in a fair manner, thereby avoiding having certain multicast entries and their associated users from being acted upon consistently last.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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associating a first multicast entry with a first class;
associating a second multicast entry with a second class; and
selecting one of the first and second multicast entries, wherein said selecting is determined using the first and second classes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A router element comprising:
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a plurality of network line cards;
a processor coupled to the network line cards wherein the processor is configured to associate a first multicast entry with a first class, associate a second multicast entry with a second class, and select one of the first and second multicast entries, wherein said selecting is determined using the first and second classes. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of network line cards;
means for associating a first multicast entry with a first class;
means for associating a second multicast entry with a second class; and
means for selecting one of the first and second multicast entries, wherein said selecting is determined using the first and second classes.
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Specification