Requesting multicast membership information in a distributed switch in response to a miss event
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- using a multicast router as a general querier and a distributed switch as a separate querier to obtain most current multicast membership information, wherein the distributed switch includes a plurality of distributed switch elements with a plurality of switch forwarding units, performing operations comprising;
sending a first query for multicast membership information by the multicast router based on an interval of time;
when a multicast destination address of a multicast packet is unregistered, generating a miss event in a switch forwarding unit of a distributed switch element of the distributed switch, the miss event indicating that there is a need for the multicast membership information;
sending, by the switch forwarding unit, a second query for the multicast membership information;
receiving a report of the multicast membership information from at least one host; and
updating the multicast membership information in the distributed switch based on the report.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatuses and methods to request multicast membership information in a distributed switch are provided. A particular method may include requesting multicast membership information of a group identified by a multicast destination address in a distributed switch. The distributed switch may include a plurality of distributed switch elements with a plurality of switch forwarding units. The method may generate a miss event indicating that the multicast destination address is unregistered in a switch forwarding unit of a distributed switch element and there is a need for the multicast membership information. The method may also request the multicast membership information of the multicast destination address in response to the miss event. The method may further initiate a query for the multicast membership information of the multicast destination address in response to the request.
133 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
using a multicast router as a general querier and a distributed switch as a separate querier to obtain most current multicast membership information, wherein the distributed switch includes a plurality of distributed switch elements with a plurality of switch forwarding units, performing operations comprising; sending a first query for multicast membership information by the multicast router based on an interval of time; when a multicast destination address of a multicast packet is unregistered, generating a miss event in a switch forwarding unit of a distributed switch element of the distributed switch, the miss event indicating that there is a need for the multicast membership information; sending, by the switch forwarding unit, a second query for the multicast membership information; receiving a report of the multicast membership information from at least one host; and updating the multicast membership information in the distributed switch based on the report. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus comprising:
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a distributed switch, comprising; a plurality of distributed switch elements with a plurality of switch forwarding units, wherein a multicast router is configured to act as a general querier and the distributed switch is configured to act as a separate querier to obtain most current multicast membership information, wherein the multicast router is configured to send a first query for multicast membership information based on an interval of time, wherein, when a multicast destination address of a multicast packet is unregistered, a switch forwarding unit of a distributed switch element is configured to generate a miss event indicating that there is a need for the multicast membership information, wherein the switch forwarding unit is configured to send a second query for the multicast membership information, wherein the switch forwarding unit is configured to receive a report of the multicast membership information from at least one host, and wherein the distributed switch is configured to update the multicast membership information based on the report. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of requesting multicast membership information of a group identified by a multicast destination address comprising:
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using a multicast router as a general querier and a distributed switch as a separate querier to obtain most current multicast membership information; sending a first query for the multicast membership information by the multicast router based on an interval of time; initiating a second query for the multicast membership information of the multicast destination address in response to a miss event indicating that the multicast destination address is unregistered in a switch forwarding unit of a distributed switch element; receiving the multicast membership information in response to the second query from at least one host; snooping the multicast membership information received in response to the second query; and programming the switch forwarding unit with the snooped multicast membership information.
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Specification