Broadcast address server with physical address discrimination for broadcasting packets

A broadcast address server deployed on a network to transmit packets to a plurality of terminals being associated therewith and the network allows the broadcast address server to communicate through a link with another broadcast address server, said broadcast address server comprising:

• (a) connection set-up means for establishing a broadcast connection to the terminals on the network, based on addressing information that is maintained in the broadcast address server, said connection set-up means includes interserver connection set-up means for establishing a broadcast connection to the other broadcast address server on the network, based on the addressing information being maintained therein;
• (b) address response means, responsive to an address resolution request from a source terminal that needs a physical address corresponding to a broadcast protocol address, for returning to the source terminal a dedicated broadcast physical address that is used solely to receive broadcast packets;
• (c) packet transmission means for receiving a broadcast packet that the source terminal has transmitted toward the dedicated broadcast physical address, and forwarding the received broadcast packet to the terminals on the network through the broadcast connection established by said connection set-up means, said packet transmission means includes interserver packet transmission means for receiving the broadcast packet from the source terminal, and forwarding the received broadcast packet to the other broadcast address server through the broadcast connection that has been established by said inter-server connection set-up means;
• (d) inter-server packet discrimination means, responsive to each received packet, for determining whether the received packet is a broadcast packet that is transferred from an inter-server packet transmission means of any other broadcast address server, and
• (e) another packet transmission means for forwarding the received packet to the terminals being registered, when said inter-server packet discrimination means has determined that the received packet is a broadcast packet transferred from said inter-server packet transmission means of any other broadcast address server.