Method of routing multicast traffic

• US 9,059,943 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2013
• Issued: 06/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cai, Yiqun, Eckert, Toerless, Vicisano, Lorenzo, Boers, Arjen, Alvarez, Daniel A.
• Primary Examiner(s): BLANTON, JOHN D
• Application Number:
  US14/090,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20140079058A1
• Time in Patent Office: 567 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• 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 45/028 Dynamic adaptation of the update intervals, e.g. event-triggered updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/16 Multipoint routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/36 Backward learning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering

Abstract

A method of routing multicast traffic in a computer network is disclosed. The method comprises associating a plurality of multicast group addresses on a network device with respective multicast routing topologies. A network device and a network are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a multicast data packet at a network device;

identifying a multicast group address of the multicast data packet; and

in an automated operation based on the identified multicast group address and using one or more processors, performing a reverse path forwarding (RPF) check using a particular routing table corresponding to a particular multicast topology associated with the identified multicast group address, the network device having a plurality of routing tables corresponding to respective multicast group addresses.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising routing the multicast data packet in accordance with the particular routing table.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining that the RPF check for the multicast data packet has passed, the routing of the multicast data packet being responsive to passing of the RPF check.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the RPF check for the multicast group address has failed;

and responsive to failure of the RPF check, rejecting the multicast data packet.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular routing table used in performing the RPF check is a particular unicast routing table associated with the particular multicast topology, the network device having a plurality of unicast routing tables associated with respective multicast topologies.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device is configured to route packets in multiple autonomous routing domains.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the multiple autonomous routing domains include multicast virtual private networks.

8. The method of claim 7, in which at least two of the virtual private networks have different multicast topologies.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the particular routing table corresponding to the identified multicast group address by reading a statically configured multicast routing topology associated with the identified multicast group address.

10. A network device comprising:

a network interface configured to receive a multicast data packet;

an address reader module configured to identify a multicast group address of the multicast data packet; and

a reverse path forwarding (RPF) module configured to perform, based on the identified multicast group address, a RPF check using a particular routing table corresponding to a particular multicast topology associated with the identified multicast group address, the network device having a plurality of routing tables corresponding to respective multicast group addresses.

11. The network device of claim 10, further configured to route the multicast data packet in accordance with the particular routing table.

12. The network device of claim 11, further configured such that the routing of the multicast data packet is performed in response to determining that the RPF check for the multicast data packet has passed.

13. The network device of claim 10, further configured to reject the multicast data packet in response to determining that the RPF check for the multicast data packet has failed.

14. The network device of claim 10, wherein the RPF module is configured such that the particular routing table used in performing the RPF check is a particular unicast routing table associated with the particular multicast topology, the network device having a plurality of unicast routing tables associated with respective multicast topologies.

15. The network device of claim 10, wherein the network device is configured to route packets in multiple autonomous routing domains.

16. The network device of claim 15, wherein the multiple autonomous routing domains include multicast virtual private networks.

17. The network device of claim 16, in which at least two of the virtual private networks have different multicast topologies.

18. The network device of claim 10, further comprising a determination module to determine the particular routing table corresponding to the identified multicast group address by reading a statically configured multicast routing topology associated with the identified multicast group address.

19. A non-transitory tangible computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor of a network device configured to perform networking resource resolution, cause the processor to:

receive a multicast data packet at a network device;

identify a multicast group address of the multicast data packet; and

in an automated operation based on the identified multicast group address, perform a reverse path forwarding (RPF) check using a particular routing table corresponding to a particular multicast topology associated with the identified multicast group address, the network device having a plurality of routing tables corresponding to respective multicast group addresses.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 19, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

route the multicast data packet in accordance with the particular routing table.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 20, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

determine that the RPF check for the multicast data packet has passed, the routing of the multicast data packet being responsive to passing of the RPF check.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 19, wherein the particular routing table used in performing the RPF check is a particular unicast routing table associated with the particular multicast topology, the network device having a plurality of unicast routing tables associated with respective multicast topologies.

23. The computer readable storage media of claim 19, wherein the network device is configured to route packets in multiple autonomous routing domains.

24. The computer readable storage media of claim 19, further comprising instructions to cause the processor to:

determine the particular routing table corresponding to the identified multicast group address by reading a statically configured multicast routing topology associated with the identified multicast group address.