Method and system for proxy A/V bridging on an ethernet switch

A system for communicating data, the system comprising:

• one or more circuits for use in a first communication device, wherein said one or more circuits enable:
• reception of one or more link discovery messages via a port;
• labeling of said port based on the contents of said received one or more link discovery messages;
• and
• determination of whether said first communication device may utilize AV Bridging (AVB) services for transmitting and/or receiving protocol data units via said port based on said labeling and based on a quantity of second communication devices that are reachable via said port, wherein:
• said port is labeled as a legacy port when said received one or more link discovery messages indicate that a said second communication device reachable via said port is not AVB-enabled;
• and
• said communication device is enabled to utilize said AV Bridging services via said port when said received one or more link discovery messages comprise a proxy request.

A method for communicating data, the method comprising:

• receiving a link discovery message via a port;
• labeling said port based on the contents of said received link discovery message;
• and
• determining whether a communication device may utilize AV Bridging services for transmitting and/or receiving protocol data units via said port based on said labeling, wherein:
• said port is labeled as a legacy port when said link discover message does not comprise a time-synchronization-enabled attribute and an AV-enabled attribute;
• and
• said communication device is enabled to utilize said AV Bridging services via said port when said link discovery message comprises a proxy request attribute and when said port is labeled as said legacy port.

A system for communicating data, the system comprising:

• one or more circuits that enable reception of a link discovery message via a port;
• said one or more circuits enable labeling of said port based on the contents of said received link discovery message;
• and
• said one or more circuits enable determination of whether a communication device may utilize AV Bridging services for transmitting and/or receiving protocol data units via said port based on said labeling, wherein:
• wherein said port is labeled as a legacy port when said link discover message does not comprise a time-synchronization-enabled attribute and an AV-enabled attribute;
• and
• said communication device is enabled to utilize said AV Bridging services via said port when said link discovery message comprises a proxy request attribute and when said port is labeled as said legacy port.