Flooding reduction method

• US 7,756,146 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2006
• Issued: 07/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Inventors: Hato, Kunio, Suzuki, Muneyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Moe; Aung S
• Assistant Examiner(s): ELLIOTT IV, BENJAMIN H
• Application Number:
  US11/578,809
• Publication Number:
  US 20090109848A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,624 Days
• Field of Search: 370/404, 370/407, 370/401, 370/395.53, 370/419, 370/461, 370/463, 709/245
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/56 Packet switching systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/32 Flooding denial of service attacks H04L63/1458

Abstract

In receiving a MAC (media access control) frame whose destination address is any of a broadcast address, an unknown multicast address and an unknown unicast address, the flooding is reduced by broadcasting the received MAC frame to all the other ports than one that has received the MAC frame. An output control that attains this object is realized by using a destination group identifier (ID) look-up table (2-T1) which enables a look-up of a destination group ID by using, as a key, any one or combination of header information of the MAC frame, a port which received the MAC frame and a service VLAN (virtual local area network) ID corresponding to the MAC frame and a backbone port look-up table (2-T2) which enables a look-up of at least one backbone port which is to transmit or at least one backbone port which is not to transmit by using the destination group ID as a key.

Claims

1. A MAC (media access control) frame transfer method for reducing a flooding in a backbone network with which a plurality of customer local area networks are connected via respective edge bridges which each comprise at least one customer port and at least one backbone port to realize a VLAN (virtual local area network), the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a MAC frame from one of said customer local area networks via said at least one customer port of each edge bridge;

identifying a service VLAN ID for said MAC frame from a customer port which received said MAC frame;

obtaining a destination group ID for identifying a combination of a source of said MAC frame and at least one destination;

on the basis of said obtained destination group ID, judging whether said at least one backbone port includes one which is to transfer said MAC frame;

if said at least one backbone port includes at least one backbone port which is to transfer said MAC frame, forming a backbone MAC frame which includes said MAC frame and said service VLAN ID;

setting said destination group ID in said backbone MAC frame; and

transferring said backbone MAC frame with said destination group ID set to said at least one backbone port which is to transfer said MAC frame.

2. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

judging whether said at least one customer port includes at least one customer port which is other than one that has received said MAC frame and corresponds to said identified service VLAN ID; and

if said at least one customer port includes at least one customer port which is other than one that has received said MAC frame and corresponds to said identified service VLAN ID, then transferring said MAC frame to said included at least one customer port.

3. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving said backbone MAC frame from said backbone network via said at least one backbone port of one of said edge bridges;

identifying said destination group ID of said backbone MAC frame;

on the basis of said identified destination group ID, judging whether said at least one backbone port includes at least one backbone port which is other than one that has received said backbone MAC frame and which said backbone MAC frame is to be transferred to; and

if the included at least one backbone port exists, transferring said backbone MAC frame to said included at least one backbone port.

4. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 3, further comprising the step of setting a backbone port look-up table in which each destination group ID is recorded in association with at least one backbone port and information on whether each of said at least one backbone port is capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to the destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof, wherein

said step of judging on the basis of said identified destination group ID includes the step of searching said backbone port look-up table.

5. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving said backbone MAC frame from said backbone network via said at least one backbone port of each edge bridge;

judging whether said at least one customer port includes at least one customer port that corresponds to said service VLAN ID of said received backbone MAC frame; and

if the included at least one customer port exists, extracting said MAC frame from said received backbone MAC frame and transferring said extracted MAC frame to said included at least one backbone port.

6. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the step of setting a destination group ID look-up table in which at least one of at least a part of header information of said MAC frame, said customer port which received said MAC frame and said service VLAN ID for said MAC frame is recorded in association with said destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof, wherein

said step of obtaining a destination group ID includes the step of searching said destination group ID look-up table.

7. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

setting a destination routing information table in which a set of a source and at least one destination of each MAC frame is recorded in association with a corresponding destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof;

permitting a network administrator to input a set of destinations;

if a destination group ID corresponding to said set of destinations is found in a search of said destination routing information table, outputting said found destination group ID;

if said destination group ID corresponding to said set of destinations is not found in said search, assigning an unused destination group ID, registering said assigned destination group ID in said destination routing information table, and outputting said assigned destination group ID;

on the basis of said destination routing information table which includes said assigned destination group ID, updating said destination group ID look-up table included in each of at least one of said edge bridges which at least one is a destination of said backbone MAC frame with said destination group ID set.

8. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

setting a topology information table which contains topology information indicative of a physical connection pattern of nodes comprised of all said edge bridges and backbone bridges connected with said backbone network and backbone ports interconnecting said nodes so as to enable searching and alteration;

in each edge bridge, setting a backbone port look-up table in which each destination group ID is recorded in association with at least one backbone port and information on whether each of said at least one backbone port is capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to the destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof;

in each backbone bridge, setting a backbone port look-up table in which each destination group ID is recorded in association with at least one backbone port and information on whether each of said at least one backbone port is capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to the destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof;

setting a backbone routing information table in which a given destination group ID is recorded in association with a set of edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports witch are used for transferring a backbone MAC frame with said given destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof;

if a new destination group ID is registered in said backbone routing information table, finding, on the basis of said topology information table, at least one route through which a backbone MAC frame with said assigned destination group ID is transferred to at least one destination identified by said new destination group ID and outputting edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports which are used for transferring said backbone MAC frame;

updating said backbone routing information table by registering a set of said assigned destination group ID and said output edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports; and

if said backbone routing information table is updated with assigned destination group ID, updating, on the basis of said updated backbone routing information table, each of said backbone port look-up tables included in at least one of edge bridges and backbone bridges which at least one constitutes a route for transferring said backbone MAC frame with said assigned destination group ID.

9. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the step of setting a backbone port look-up table in which each destination group ID is recorded in association with at least one backbone port and information on whether each of said at least one backbone port is capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to the destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof, wherein

said step of judging on the basis of said obtained destination group ID includes the step of searching said backbone port look-up table. capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to the destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof, wherein

said step of judging on the basis of said identified destination group ID includes the step of searching said backbone port look-up table.

10. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

finding at least one route through which said backbone MAC frame should be transferred to at least one destination identified by said destination group ID on the basis of topology information which indicates, for a given destination group ID, a physical connection pattern of nodes comprised of all said edge bridges and backbone bridges connected with said backbone network and backbone ports interconnecting said nodes;

outputting edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports used for transfers through said at least one route; and

updating said backbone port look-up table with said output edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports.

11. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the step of, if said step of obtaining a destination group ID fails in obtaining said destination group ID, discarding said MAC frame.

12. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the step of, if user data is not encapsulated in said received MAC frame, discarding said MAC frame.

13. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, wherein said backbone MAC frame includes a destination address, and wherein said step of transferring said backbone MAC frame comprises the step of setting said destination group ID as said destination address of said backbone MAC frame.

14. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, wherein said backbone MAC frame includes a transfer-use VLAN ID for said MAC frame, and wherein said step of transferring said backbone MAC frame comprises the step of setting said destination group ID as said transfer-use VLAN ID.

15. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, wherein said step of transferring said backbone MAC frame comprises the step of setting said destination group ID as said service VLAN ID of said backbone MAC frame.

16. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

finding at least one route through which said backbone MAC frame should be transferred to at least one destination identified by said destination group ID on the basis of topology information indicative of a physical connection pattern of nodes comprised of all said edge bridges and backbone bridges connected with said backbone network and backbone ports interconnecting said nodes, and

outputting edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports used for transfers through said at least one route, wherein

said judging is based on said output edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports in said step of judging on the basis of said identified destination group ID.

17. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving said backbone MAC frame from said backbone network via one of a plurality of backbone ports of one of said edge bridges;

identifying said destination group ID of said backbone MAC frame;

on the basis of said identified destination group ID, judging whether said plurality of backbone ports include at least one backbone port which is other than one that has received said backbone MAC frame and which said backbone MAC frame is to be transferred to; and

if the included at least one backbone port exists, transferring said backbone MAC frame to said included at least one backbone port.

18. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 17, further comprising the step of setting a backbone port look-up table in which each destination group ID is recorded in association with at least one backbone port and information on whether each of said at least one backbone port is capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to the destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof, wherein

said step of judging on the basis of said identified destination group ID includes the step of searching said backbone port look-up table by using said identified destination group ID.

19. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

finding at least one route through which said backbone MAC frame should be transferred to at least one destination identified by said destination group ID on the basis of topology information indicative of a physical connection pattern of nodes comprised of all said edge bridges and backbone bridges connected with said backbone network and backbone ports interconnecting said nodes, and

outputting edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports used for transfers through said at least one route, wherein

said judging is based on said output edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports in said step of judging on the basis of said obtained destination group ID.

20. A MAC frame transfer method as defined in claim 19, further comprising the steps of:

finding at least one route through which said backbone MAC frame should be transferred to at least one destination identified by said destination group ID on the basis of topology information which indicates, for a given destination group ID, a physical connection pattern of nodes comprised of all said edge bridges and backbone bridges connected with said backbone network and backbone ports interconnecting said nodes;

outputting edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports used for transfers through said at least one route; and

updating said backbone port look-up table with said output edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports.

21. A flooding reduction method in an edge bridge comprising at least one customer port which receives and transmits a MAC frame from and to a customer site and which has at least one service VLAN (virtual local area network) ID (identifier) preset so that a MAC frame received from one of said at least one customer port is associated with a service VLAN ID for said one of said at least one customer port;

at least one backbone port for receiving and transmitting a backbone MAC frame from and to a backbone network;

a destination group ID look-up table which enables a look-up of a destination group ID by using, as a key, any one or combination of a part or an entirety of header information of said MAC frame, a port which received said MAC frame and a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame; and

a backbone port look-up table which enables a look-up of at least one backbone port which is to transmit or at least one backbone port which is not to transmit by using, as a key, a destination group ID for identifying a set of destinations to which said backbone MAC frame is to be transferred, wherein said backbone MAC frame at least includes said MAC frame, said service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame, a source address corresponding to a source and a destination address corresponding to a destination in said backbone network, wherein if user data is encapsulated in said MAC frame received through a customer port, said MAC frame is transferred to a MAC relay portion, which either executes a first relay process in which if there exists at least one customer port other than a recipient of said MAC frame which at least one customer port corresponds to said service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame, then said MAC frame is transferred to said at least one customer port and/or a second relay process in which if there exist at least one backbone port which is to transfer a backbone MAC frame which contains said MAC frame and the service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame, then said MAC frame is transferred to said at least one backbone port, or otherwise discards said MAC frame, wherein if said backbone MAC frame is received from one of said at least one backbone port and if said received backbone MAC frame contains said MAC frame in which the user data is encapsulated, then said backbone MAC frame is passed to said MAC relay portion, which either executes a third relay process in which if there exists at least one customer port which corresponds to a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame, said MAC frame is transferred to said at least one customer port and/or a fourth relay process in which if there exists at least one backbone port other than a recipient of said backbone MAC frame which at least one backbone port is to transfer said backbone MAC frame, then said MAC frame is transferred to said at least one backbone port, or otherwise discards said backbone MAC frame, and wherein as a destination to which said MAC frame is transferred, any of a destination backbone port, a destination customer port, a destination edge bridge and a destination MAC address is used, the flooding reduction method comprising the steps, executed by said edge bridge, of;

if said edge bridge receives said MAC frame from one of said at least one customer port, searching said destination group ID look-up table for said destination group ID by using, as a key, any one or combination of a part or an entirety of header information of said MAC frame, the port which received said MAC frame and the service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame (a destination group ID look-up step);

if said destination group ID is found in said destination group ID look-up step and said MAC relay portion transfers said MAC frame to at least one backbone port, setting said found destination group ID in a predetermined field of a backbone MAC frame which contains a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame (a destination group ID setting step);

searching said backbone port look-up table for at least one backbone port by using said found destination group ID as a key (a backbone port look-up step); and

if at least one backbone port which is to transmit is found in said backbone port look-up step, enabling said backbone MAC frame to be transmitted to said at least one backbone port and, otherwise, disabling said backbone MAC frame to be transmitted to said at least one backbone port.

22. A flooding reduction method as defined in claim 21, further comprising the step of setting said destination group address as a destination address in said backbone MAC frame.

23. A flooding reduction method as defined in claim 21, wherein said backbone MAC frame includes a transfer-use VLAN ID for said MAC frame, and wherein the flooding reduction method further comprises the step of setting said destination group address as said transfer-use VLAN ID in said backbone MAC frame.

24. A flooding reduction method as defined in claim 21, further comprising the step of setting said destination group address as said service VLAN ID in said backbone MAC frame.

25. A flooding reduction method as defined in claim 21, further comprising the step of setting said destination group address as a set of said service VLAN ID and said destination address in said backbone MAC frame.

26. A flooding reduction method as defined in claim 21, used in a network comprising a combination of at least one edge bridge and an operation device which is provided with a function of enabling input and output by a network administrator and performs at least one of setting, operation, administration and monitoring of said at least one edge bridge, said operation device having a destination routing information table which enables a look-up of said destination group ID by using, as a key, a set of destinations to which said MAC frame is transferred, wherein the flooding reduction method further comprises:

a destination routing information table searching step in which, when the network administrator inputs a set of destinations, said operation device searches the destination routing information table by using the set of destinations as the key; and

a destination group ID outputting step in which, if an destination group ID is found in the destination routing information table searching step, said operation device outputs the found destination group ID and, otherwise, said operation device assigns an unused destination group ID to the set of destinations, registers this combination in the destination routing information table, and outputs the destination group ID.

27. A flooding reduction method as defined in claim 26, used in a network comprising a combination of at least one edge bridge, an operation device which is provided with a function of enabling input and output by a network administrator and performs at least one of setting, operation, administration and monitoring of said at least one edge bridge, and at least one backbone bridge which each has at least one backbone port for receiving and transmitting said backbone MAC frame from and to said backbone network and which, if said backbone MAC frame is received from one of said at least one backbone port, passes said backbone MAC frame to said MAC relay portion, which executes a fifth relay process of transferring the passed backbone MAC frame to at least one backbone port other than the backbone port that has received said backbone MAC frame,

wherein said operation device comprises a function of performing at least one of setting, operation, administration and monitoring of said at least one backbone bridge;

a topology information table which enables a look-up of edge bridge(s) and backbone bridge(s) connected with said operation device and backbone ports at both ends of each connection by using an edge bridge or a backbone bridge as the key;

a route calculator for searching said topology information table by using a plurality of destinations as the key and outputting edge bridge(s) and/or backbone bridge(s) constituting routes among the plurality of destinations and relevant backbone ports of the bridges; and

a backbone routing information table which enables a look-up of a set of edge bridge(s), backbone bridge(s) and backbone ports by using said destination group ID as the key, wherein the flooding reduction method further comprises the steps, executed by said operation device, of;

if the network administrator inputs a set of destinations and if a new destination group ID corresponding to the set of destinations is assigned, passing the set of destinations to said route calculator to cause said route calculator to output edge bridge(s), backbone bridge(s) and relevant backbone ports;

registering a combination of said destination group ID corresponding to the set of destinations and the output results in said backbone routing information table; and

outputting, to each of edge bridge(s) and backbone bridge(s) included in the output results, setting information of corresponding backbone ports; and

wherein the flooding reduction method further comprises the step of;

if each of the edge and backbone bridges receives, from said operation device, the same setting information as output in said step of outputting setting information, said bridge updating the setting of said corresponding backbone ports according to the received setting information.

28. A flooding reduction method as defined in claim 21, used in a network comprising a combination of at least one edge bridge, an operation device which is provided with a function of enabling input and output by a network administrator and performs at least one of setting, operation, administration and monitoring of said at least one edge bridge, and at least one backbone bridge which each has at least one backbone port for receiving and transmitting said backbone MAC frame from and to said backbone network and which, if said backbone MAC frame is received from one of said at least one backbone port, passes said backbone MAC frame to said MAC relay portion, which executes a fifth relay process of transferring the passed backbone MAC frame to at least one backbone port other than the backbone port that has received said backbone MAC frame, wherein

each backbone bridge has a backbone port look-up table which enables a look-up of at least one backbone port which is to transmit or at least one backbone port which is not to transmit by using said destination group ID as a key, and wherein the flooding reduction method further comprises the steps, executed by said backbone bridge, of:

in response to a reception of said backbone MAC frame from one of said at least one backbone port, extracting said destination group ID from said backbone MAC frame (=a destination group ID extracting step);

looking up a backbone port in said backbone port look-up table by using, as a key, said destination group ID extracted in said destination group ID extracting step (=a backbone port look-up step);

if at least one backbone port which is to transmit is found in said backbone port look-up step, enabling said backbone MAC frame to be transmitted to the found at least one backbone port; and

if at least one backbone port which is not to transmit is found in said backbone port look-up step, disabling said backbone MAC frame to be transmitted to the found at least one backbone port.

29. An edge bridge for connecting a customer LAN (local area network) to a backbone network so that customer LAN'"'"'s constitute a virtual LAN (VLAN), comprising:

at least one customer port for each communicating a MAC (media access control) frame with said customer LAN;

a destination group ID look-up table in which at least one of at least a part of header information of said MAC frame, a customer port which received said MAC frame and a service VLAN ID for said MAC frame is recorded in association with a destination group ID for identifying a combination of a source of said MAC frame and at least one destination of said MAC frame so as to enable searching and alteration thereof;

a backbone port look-up table in which each destination group ID is recorded in association with at least one backbone port and information on whether each of said at least one backbone port is capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to said destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof;

a destination group ID look-up module, operative in case of receiving said MAC frame from one of said at least one customer port, for looking up a destination group ID in said destination group ID look-up table by using as the key at least one or any combination of at least a part of said header information of said MAC frame, a customer port which received said MAC frame and a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame;

a backbone port look-up module, responsive to a finding of said destination group ID by said destination group ID look-up module, for searching, with said destination group ID, said backbone port look-up table for one or more of said at least one backbone port which is to transfer said MAC frame;

transmission control module, operative in the event that said one or more backbone ports are found in said at least one backbone port by said backbone port look-up module which is to transfer said MAC frame module, for making said one or more backbone ports in a transmission-enable state and making remaining backbone ports in a transmission-disable state;

a MAC relay portion for identifying a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame from said customer port which received said MAC frame, forming a backbone MAC frame which at least includes said MAC frame and said service VLAN ID, and transferring said backbone MAC frame to said one or more backbone ports found by said backbone port look-up module; and

a destination group ID setting module for setting said destination group ID looked up by said destination group ID look-up module to said backbone MAC frame to be transferred to said one or more backbone ports by said MAC relay portion.

30. A system for reducing the flooding, in said backbone network, of a virtual LAN realized by connecting a plurality of customer LAN'"'"'s with said backbone network via respective edge bridges as each defined in claim 29.

31. A system as defined in claim 30, further comprising at least one backbone bridge which has at least two backbone ports which connect with at least two of said edge bridges and other bridges, wherein each of said at least one backbone bridge comprises:

a destination group ID extracting module for extracting said destination group ID of a backbone MAC frame received via one of said at least two backbone ports of the backbone bridge from said backbone network;

a backbone port look-up table in which each destination group ID is recorded in association with at least one backbone port and information on whether each of said at least one backbone port is capable of relaying said backbone MAC frame corresponding to said destination group ID so as to enable searching and alteration thereof;

a backbone port look-up module for searching, with said destination group ID extracted by said destination group ID extracting module, said backbone port look-up table for one or more backbone ports of said at least two backbone ports which are not a recipient of said backbone MAC frame and which said backbone MAC frame should be transferred through;

a transmission control module, operative in the event that said one or more backbone ports which said backbone MAC frame should be transferred through are found by said backbone port look-up module, for making said one or more backbone ports in a transmission-enable state and making remaining backbone ports in a transmission-disable state; and

a MAC relay portion, for transferring said backbone MAC frame to said one or more backbone ports looked up by said backbone port look-up module.

32. A system as defined in claim 31, further comprising an operation device with a function of enabling an input and output by a network administrator to input, wherein said operation device comprises:

a destination routing information table in which a combination of a source of said MAC frame and at least one destination is recorded in association with said destination group ID so as to enable searching and updating thereof;

a destination routing information table look-up module for searching said destination routing information table with a set of destinations input by the network administrator;

a destination group ID registering and outputting module which, if said destination group ID for said set of destinations is found by said destination routing information table look-up module, outputs said found destination group ID and, otherwise, assigning an unused destination group ID to said set of destinations, registering said assigned destination group ID in said destination routing information table, and outputs said assigned destination group ID;

a destination group ID updating module for updating, on the basis of said destination routing information table which includes said assigned destination group ID, said destination group ID look-up table(s) included in at least one of all said edge bridges which at least one edge bridge is a destination of a backbone MAC frame with said destination group ID;

a topology information table which retains, for each destination group ID, topology information indicative of both a physical connection pattern of nodes comprised of all said edge bridges and all said backbone bridges connected with said backbone network and backbone ports interconnecting said nodes so as to enable searching and updating thereof;

a route calculator, operative in the event that said destination group ID registering and outputting module registers said unused destination group ID in said destination routing information table, for searching said topology information table for at least one route through which a backbone MAC frame with said assigned destination group ID is transferred to at least one destination identified by said assigned destination group ID and outputting edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports which are used for the transfer process;

a backbone routing information table for registering a given destination group ID therein, so as to enable searching and updating, in association with a set of said edge bridges and said backbone bridges used for transferring a backbone MAC frame with said destination group ID and backbone ports of said bridges;

a backbone routing information table updating module for updating said backbone routing information table by registering said assigned destination group ID and the set of output edge bridges, backbone bridges and backbone ports; and

a backbone port look-up table updating module, operative in the event that said backbone routing information table updating module updates said backbone routing information table with said assigned destination group ID, for updating, based on said updated backbone routing information table, information of each backbone port on whether the backbone port is capable of relaying a backbone MAC frame corresponding to said assigned destination group ID in each of backbone port look-up tables included in edge bridges and backbone bridges which are used as transfer routes for a backbone MAC frame with said assigned destination group ID.

33. A system for reducing the flooding, in said backbone network, of a virtual LAN realized by connecting a plurality of customer LAN'"'"'s with said backbone network via respective edge bridges, each of said edge bridges comprising:

a destination group ID look-up table which enables a look-up of a destination group ID by using, as a key, any one or combination of a part or an entirety of header information of a MAC frame, a port which received said MAC frame and a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame;

a backbone port look-up table which enables a look-up of at least one backbone port which is to transmit or at least one backbone port which is not to transmit by using said destination group ID as a key;

a destination group ID look-up means, responsive to a reception of said MAC frame from a customer port, for looking up a destination group ID in said destination group ID look-up table by using as a key at least one or any combination of the header information of said MAC frame, a port which received said MAC frame and a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame;

a destination group ID setting means, operative in the event that any destination group ID is looked up and said MAC frame is transferred to one or more backbone ports by a MAC relay portion, for setting the looked-up destination group ID to a predetermined field in a backbone MAC frame which includes a service VLAN ID corresponding to said MAC frame;

a backbone port look-up means for looking up a backbone port in said backbone port look-up table by using the looked-up destination group ID as the key; and

a transmission control means, operative in the event that one or more backbone ports which are to transmit are found by said backbone port look-up means, for enabling a transmission of said backbone MAC frame to the found backbone port(s) and, operative in the event that one or more backbone ports which are not to transmit are found by the backbone port look-up means, for disabling the transmission of said backbone MAC frame to the found backbone port(s).

34. A system as defined in claim 33, wherein said backbone network includes an operation device which is provided with a function of enabling an input and output by a network administrator and performs at least one of setting, operation, administration and monitoring of at least one edge bridge, wherein said operation device comprises:

a destination routing information table which enables a look-up of said destination group ID by using, as a key, a set of destinations to which said MAC frame is transferred

a destination routing information table searching means, operative in the event that the network administrator inputs said set of destinations, for searching said destination routing information table by using said set of destinations as the key; and

a destination group ID outputting means which, if an destination group ID is found by the destination routing information table searching means, outputs the found destination group ID and which, otherwise, assigns an unused destination group ID to said set of destinations, registers a combination of said assigned destination group ID and said set of destinations in said destination routing information table, and outputs said assigned destination group ID.

35. A system as defined in claim 34, wherein said backbone network further comprises at least one backbone bridge which each is provided with at least one backbone port for each receiving and transmitting said backbone MAC frame from and to said backbone network and which, when said backbone MAC frame is received from one of said at least one backbone port, passes said backbone MAC frame to its own MAC relay portion, which in turn performs a relay process of either transferring the passed backbone MAC frame to one or more backbone ports other than the backbone port that has received said backbone MAC frame or discarding the passed backbone MAC frame, and wherein each of said at least one backbone bridge comprises:

a backbone port look-up table which enables a look-up of at least one backbone port which is to transmit or at least one backbone port which is not to transmit by using said destination group ID as a key;

destination group ID extracting means which, when receiving a backbone MAC frame from a backbone port, extracts a destination group ID from the backbone MAC frame;

backbone port look-up means for looking up a backbone port in the backbone port look-up table by using, as the key, said destination group ID extracted by the destination group ID extracting means; and

transmission control means which, if one or more backbone ports which is to transmit are found by the backbone port look-up means, enables said backbone MAC frame to be transmitted to the found one or more backbone ports and, if one or more backbone ports which is not to transmit are found by the backbone port look-up means, disables said backbone MAC frame to be transmitted to the found one or more backbone ports.

36. A system as defined in claim 35, wherein said operation device comprises:

a function of performing at least one of setting, operation, administration and monitoring of said at least one backbone bridge;

a topology information table which enables a look-up of edge bridge(s) and backbone bridge(s) connected with said operation device and backbone ports at both ends of each connection by using an edge bridge or a backbone bridge as the key;

a route calculator for searching said topology information table by using a plurality of destinations as the key and outputting edge bridge(s) and/or backbone bridge(s) constituting routes among the plurality of destinations and relevant backbone ports of the bridges; and

a backbone routing information table which enables a look-up of a set of edge bridge(s), backbone bridge(s) and backbone ports by using said destination group ID as the key, and wherein the system further comprises;

output means, operative in the event that the network administrator inputs a set of destinations and that a new destination group ID corresponding to the set of destinations is assigned, for passing said set of destinations to said route calculator to cause said route calculator to output edge bridge(s), backbone bridge(s) and relevant backbone ports;

backbone routing information table registering means for registering a combination of said destination group ID corresponding to said set of destinations and the output results in said backbone routing information table; and

backbone port setting information output means for outputting, to each of edge bridge(s) and backbone bridge(s) included in the output results, setting information of corresponding backbone ports, and wherein each of said edge bridges and said at least one backbone bridges further comprises;

backbone port setting changing means, operative in the event that each of the edge and backbone bridges receives, from said operation device, the same setting information as output by said backbone port setting information output means, changing the setting of said corresponding backbone ports according to the received setting information.