Device, system and method for network-based address translation for multiple recipients

A computer network system for multicast packet distribution comprising:

• a network switch having at least one ingress interface, at least one egress interface, and a switching fabric, at least one of the at least one egress interface having a loopback connection to at least one of the at least one ingress interface to the switching fabric;
• and
• a network controller connected to the network switch via a core network, the network controller configured to send a control command using an application programming interface for the network switch, the control command having a replicate command to replicate the incoming signal packets by distributing the incoming signal packets based on a number of a plurality of destination addresses to a corresponding number of egress interfaces of the at least one egress interface of the network switch, each of the number of egress interfaces having a loopback connection to an ingress interface of the at least one ingress interface of the network switch, the control command having a header translation command to control the network switch to translate header address information of each of the replicated signal packets to a destination address of the plurality of destination addresses, the destination address for transmission of the translated replicated signal packets to a destination device listening to the destination address,
• in response to receiving the control command, the network switch replicates the incoming signal packets by distributing the incoming signal packets based on the number of the plurality of destination addresses to the corresponding number of egress interfaces of the at least one egress interface, receives the replicated incoming signal packets from the loopback connections at the corresponding ingress interfaces, and for each of the replicated signal packets, translates the header address information of the respective replicated signal packet to the destination address of the plurality of destination addresses, and transmits the translated replicated signal packet to the destination address, the destination device listening to the destination address.

A network controller for multicast packet distribution by controlling a network switch having at least one ingress interface and at least one egress interface, the controller comprising:

• a data storage device storing a plurality of destination addresses;
• a processor to generate a control command using an application programming interface for the network switch, the control command having a replicate command to replicate the incoming signal packets by distributing the incoming signal packets based on a number of the plurality of destination addresses to a corresponding number of egress interfaces of the at least one egress interface of the network switch, each of the number of egress interfaces having a loopback connection to an ingress interface of the at least one ingress interface of the network switch, the control command having a header translation command to control the network switch to translate header address information of each of the replicated signal packets to a destination address of the plurality of destination addresses, the destination address for transmission of the translated replicated signal packets to a destination device listening to the destination address;
• and
• a transceiver to receive the plurality of destination addresses and send the control command to the network switch to trigger the distribution of the incoming signal packets to the plurality of destination addresses.

A computer network switch comprising:

• at least one ingress interface for receiving incoming signal packets, each packet having a header field;
• at least one egress interface;
• a switching fabric with at least one of the at least one egress interface having a loopback connection to at least one of the at least one ingress interface;
• wherein in response to receiving a control command generated using an application programming interface for the network switch, the control command having a replicate command to replicate the incoming signal packets by distributing the incoming signal packets based on a number of a plurality of destination addresses to a corresponding number of egress interfaces of the at least one egress interface of the network switch, each of the number of egress interfaces having a loopback connection to an ingress interface of the at least one ingress interface of the network switch, the control command having a header translation command to control the network switch to translate header address information of each of the replicated signal packets to a destination address of the plurality of destination addresses, the destination address for transmission of the translated replicated signal packets to a destination device listening to the destination address, the network switch replicates the incoming signal packets by distributing the incoming signal packets based on the number of the plurality of destination addresses to the corresponding number of egress interfaces of the at least one egress interface, receives the replicated incoming signal packets from the loopback connections at the corresponding ingress interfaces, and for each of the replicated signal packets, translates the header address information of the respective replicated signal packet to the destination address of the plurality of destination addresses, and transmits the translated replicated signal packet to the destination address, the destination device listening to the destination address.