Method and system for intelligently forwarding multicast packets
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving, by a Layer 2 switch, a router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message, the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message being either;
a Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) hello message transmitted by a router to announce the router'"'"'s presence to other neighboring routers;
ora PIM join or PIM prune message transmitted by a router to identify multicast group memberships to other neighboring routers; and
processing, by a processor of the Layer 2 switch, the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message to create forwarding information for use by the Layer 2 switch in forwarding multicast content packets.
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Abstract
A routing system utilizes a layer 2 switch interconnecting several routers to intelligently forward multicast packets throughout an interne exchange carrying multicast content. The layer 2 switch performs protocol snooping to extract a lookup key that is based on network layer protocol information. The lookup key is uniquely formulated to support either shared or explicit source distribution trees. The lookup key is used to query a forwarding memory that returns an outgoing port index. The outgoing port index points to one or more outgoing ports that are eligible to receive the multicast packet. The outgoing ports are also connected to the neighboring device(s) that are designated to receive the multicast packet. The routing system also supports real time maintenance and updating of the forwarding memory based on the periodic exchange of control messages. The routing system is configured to support PIM routers operating in PIM SM or PIM SSM modes. However, the routing system can also support other multicast protocols and/or standards.
106 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a Layer 2 switch, a router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message, the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message being either; a Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) hello message transmitted by a router to announce the router'"'"'s presence to other neighboring routers;
ora PIM join or PIM prune message transmitted by a router to identify multicast group memberships to other neighboring routers; and processing, by a processor of the Layer 2 switch, the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message to create forwarding information for use by the Layer 2 switch in forwarding multicast content packets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A Layer 2 switch comprising:
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a memory; a plurality of ports; one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon software that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to; receive a router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message, the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message being either; a Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) hello message transmitted by a router to announce the router'"'"'s presence to other neighboring routers;
ora PIM join or PIM prune message transmitted by a router to identify multicast group memberships to other neighboring routers; and process the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message to create forwarding information for use by the Layer 2 switch in forwarding multicast content packets. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a program of instructions that, when executed by a processor of a Layer 2 switch, causes the processor of the Layer 2 switch to:
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receive a router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message, the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message being either; a Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) hello message transmitted by a router to announce the router'"'"'s presence to other neighboring routers;
ora PIM join or PIM prune message transmitted by a router to identify multicast group memberships to other neighboring routers; and process the router-to-router Layer 3 multicast control message to create forwarding information for use by the Layer 2 switch in forwarding multicast content packets. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification