Automatic association of local area network station addresses with a repeater port
First Claim
1. A method for determining the location of a station with a particular segment in an extended local area network given only a selected network address, the method comprising:
- forwarding the selected network address to one or more multiple-port repeaters connected to the network;
in each multiple-port repeater, comparing the selected address with the source addresses of messages incoming to the ports of the repeater; and
if the selected address matches the source address of a message, providing an indicator of the repeater port number on which the message was received, thereby identifying the selected network address with a particular segment.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Automatic tracking of the topology of an extended local area network by augmenting a station address list kept by a bridge with a list of repeater numbers and repeater port numbers. The bridge periodically iterates through its list of stations to select a station address. The selected address table is forwarded to all of the repeaters connected to the bridge. The repeaters watch for the selected address appearing as a source address in a message on one of their ports. If the address is seen, they report the repeater port number back to the bridge. Because the repeaters are interconnected such that a predetermined port number is always used as the common port between repeaters, any possible ambiguities are eliminated.
74 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining the location of a station with a particular segment in an extended local area network given only a selected network address, the method comprising:
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forwarding the selected network address to one or more multiple-port repeaters connected to the network; in each multiple-port repeater, comparing the selected address with the source addresses of messages incoming to the ports of the repeater; and if the selected address matches the source address of a message, providing an indicator of the repeater port number on which the message was received, thereby identifying the selected network address with a particular segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for automatically tracking the topology of an extended local area network by augmenting a station address list kept by a bridge with a list of repeater numbers and repeater port numbers, comprising the steps of:
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periodically iterating through the station address list to determine a selected station address; forwarding the selected station address to one or more repeaters connected to the bridge; in the repeaters, watching for the selected address to appear as a source address in a message on one of their ports; and upon seeing the selected address on a port, reporting a repeater port number back to the bridge. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. An apparatus for associating the location of a network station with a particular segment in an extended local area network, given only the network address of the station, the apparatus comprising:
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means for forwarding the network address to one or more multiple-port repeaters connected to the network; means for comparing the network address to the source addresses of messages incoming to the ports of the repeaters; and means for providing an indicator of the repeater port number on which the message was received, if the means for comparing determines that the network address matches the source address of a message, and thereby for associating the network address with a particular segment. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An extended local area network for automatically determining the location of a network station, wherein the network includes a bridge having a workgroup port and a backbone port, and the network includes a plurality of multiple-port repeaters, the multiple-port repeaters each having a plurality of repeater ports, with at least one repeater port connected to the workgroup port of the bridge, so that at least one port of each repeater is connected in parallel with at least one port of the other repeaters and in parallel with the workgroup port of the bridge, and at least one of the remaining ports of at least one of the multiple-port repeaters is connected to a local area network segment including a plurality of network stations interconnected by a network medium, wherein
the bridge further comprises: -
memory means, for storing the addresses of the stations connected to the bridge, and a repeater number and repeater port number for each station address; means for reading a selected station address from one of the locations in the station address table memory, and for forwarding the selected station address to the multiple-port repeaters; means for receiving a port number value and a repeater number value from one of the multiple-port repeaters in response to sending a repeater port value request control message to the repeaters; means for storing the received port number value and repeater number in the memory means; and wherein the multiple-port repeaters each comprise; means for storing the selected station address; means for comparing the selected station address to the source address portion of incoming messages received on the plurality of repeater ports, and for determining if the selected station address is equal to the source address of an incoming message; means for determining the port number associated with the port on which the incoming message was received; and means for forwarding the port number value to the bridge in response to receiving a port value request control message. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification