Method and apparatus of multicast service flow processing for headend cable modem
First Claim
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1. A method of processing a multicast service flow in a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), the method comprising:
- classifying an inputted multicast packet by a session,wherein the classified multicast packet has a first service flow, which is based on the inputted multicast packet, andwherein the classified multicast packet has a first downstream-schedule, which is based on the first service flow of the inputted multicast packet;
searching for an address of a service flow information table from a multicast lookup table including service flow address information corresponding to the classified multicast session;
extracting internal header information including downstream service identifier information from the service flow information table;
composing an internal header including multicast service flow information allocated to the classified session; and
outputting an internal multicast packet including the internal header,wherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having the first downstream schedule, andwherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having a second service flow, which the internal multicast packet is outputted with a same scheme used for the downstream scheduling as if the first service flow was used, andwherein the first service flow is different than the second service flow.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus of processing a multicast service flow for a headend cable modem is provided.
The method of processing the multicast service flow includes: classifying an inputted multicast packet by a session; composing an internal header including multicast service flow information allocated to the classified session; and outputting an internal multicast packet including the internal header.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of processing a multicast service flow in a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), the method comprising:
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classifying an inputted multicast packet by a session, wherein the classified multicast packet has a first service flow, which is based on the inputted multicast packet, and wherein the classified multicast packet has a first downstream-schedule, which is based on the first service flow of the inputted multicast packet; searching for an address of a service flow information table from a multicast lookup table including service flow address information corresponding to the classified multicast session; extracting internal header information including downstream service identifier information from the service flow information table; composing an internal header including multicast service flow information allocated to the classified session; and outputting an internal multicast packet including the internal header, wherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having the first downstream schedule, and wherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having a second service flow, which the internal multicast packet is outputted with a same scheme used for the downstream scheduling as if the first service flow was used, and wherein the first service flow is different than the second service flow. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of processing a multicast service flow in a CMTS, the method comprising:
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verifying whether an inputted downstream data packet corresponds to a multicast packet, using a destination address of the inputted downstream data packet, wherein the classified multicast packet has a first service flow, which is based on the inputted multicast packet, and wherein the classified multicast packet has a first downstream-schedule, which is based on the first service flow of the inputted multicast packet; searching for the multicast session lookup tables and verifying whether multicast session information exists when the inputted downstream data packet corresponds to the multicast packet; acquiring the start address of the multicast service flow information when the corresponding session information exists in the multicast session lookup tables; searching for service flow information using the start address of the acquired service flow information; composing an internal header including multicast service flow information allocated to a session when the multicast session information about the inputted downstream data packet exists; and outputting the multicast packet including the composed internal header, wherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having the first downstream schedule, and wherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having a second service flow, which the internal multicast packet is outputted with a same scheme used for the downstream scheduling as if the first service flow was used, and wherein the first service flow is different than the second service flow. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method of processing a multicast service flow in a CMTS, the method comprising:
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receiving a multicast membership request message and generating session information; determining whether the generated session information exists in a lookup table when the multicast membership request message corresponds to a message of requesting group joining; searching to verify whether service flow information corresponding to the session information exists when the session information exists in the lookup table; and generating and storing the service flow information when the service flow information corresponding to the session information does not exist, and wherein, when the multicast membership request message corresponds to a scheme of identifying a transmission area address, the receiving and generating of the session information adds a receiving group address and a transmission address and generates the session information, and when the multicast membership request message is different from the scheme of identifying the transmission area address, the receiving and generating of the session information processes masking of the transmission address in the receiving group address and generates the session information. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. An apparatus for processing a multicast service flow in a CMTS, the apparatus comprising:
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a multicast packet processor to classify an inputted multicast packet by a session, to search for an address of a service flow information table from a multicast lookup table including service flow address information corresponding to the classified multicast session, to extract internal header information including downstream service identifier information from the service flow information table and compose an internal header, to add the internal header to the multicast packet, the internal header including multicast service flow information allocated to the classified session, and to output the multicast packet, wherein the classified multicast packet has a first service flow, which is based on the inputted multicast packet, and wherein the classified multicast packet has a first downstream-schedule, which is based on the first service flow of the inputted multicast packet; and a header processor to compose a multicast MAC packet based on the internal header, to perform downstream scheduling of the multicast packet using the same scheme as a general service flow, and to transmit the MAC packet to a downstream physical layer, and wherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having the first downstream schedule, and wherein the internal multicast packet is outputted having a second service flow, which the internal multicast packet is outputted with a same scheme used for the downstream scheduling as if the first service flow was used, and wherein the first service flow is different than the second service flow. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification