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US 8,149,836 B2Granted
Method and system for relaying frames through an ethernet network and bridge therefor
AssigneeTejas Israel Ltd
InventorHayim Porat
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for relaying Ethernet frames over an Ethernet network, the method including adding a tag that provides an address from a hierarchical address scheme to an Ethernet frame; and relaying the Ethernet frame through the network according to the tag. There is also provided a configurable Ethernet bridge having a filtering database including a plurality of subnet masks for relaying frames according to a hierarchical address scheme.
Claims15
A method of relaying Ethernet frames over an Ethernet network, the method comprising:
- building, for an Ethernet network, a classless hierarchical address scheme describing a multipoint forwarding tree, said address scheme permitting pruning according to said forwarding tree;
- assigning an identification tag that includes an address from said hierarchical address scheme to each group of frames forwarded together, to identify said group for forwarding purposes, wherein said address is at least one address selected from the group consisting of a classless hierarchical MAC address and Hierarchical VLAN identifier (HVID);
- adding one of said identification tags to each Ethernet frame;
- identifying said address in a filtering database of an Ethernet frame;
- selecting at least one forwarding rule from said filtering database for said identification tag by applying at least one subnet mask by detecting a forwarding rule that is a best match from a plurality of forwarding rules obtained for said address;
- and
- relaying said Ethernet frame through the network according to said at least one forwarding rule.
4 more elements
A configurable Ethernet bridge comprising:
- a filtering database including:
- a plurality of entries from a classless hierarchical address forwarding scheme describing multipoint forwarding trees, wherein said address is at least one address selected from the group consisting of a classless hierarchical MAC address and Hierarchical VLAN identifier (HVID);
- a subnet mask associated with each said entry, wherein said subnet masks are adapted for relaying frames according to at least one of:
- said hierarchical address, or a combination of a hierarchical address and at least one of a MAC address and a Port address, by detecting a forwarding rule that is a best match from a plurality of forwarding rules obtained for said address from the application of said subnet masks in said filtering database;
- and
- at least one egress port associated with each said entry.
3 more elements
An Ethernet network comprising:
- a plurality of bridges supporting 802.1 Ethernet standards;
- at least a portion of said bridges supporting hierarchical VLAN (HVLAN) frames, each frame having an address selected from a classless hierarchical addressing scheme describing a multipoint forwarding tree, wherein said address is at least one address selected from the group consisting of a classless hierarchical MAC address and a Hierarchical VLAN identifier (HVID);
- each bridge having a filtering database including:
- a plurality of subnet masks for relaying frames according to at least one of:
- said hierarchical address, a combination of said hierarchical address and a MAC address, and a combination of said hierarchical address and a Port address;
- a plurality of forwarding rules obtained for said address from the application of said plurality of subnet masks from a forwarding rule that is a best match can be detected.
3 more elements
A method of building a filtering database for an Ethernet bridge comprising:
- populating a filtering database with entries, each entry including:
- a hierarchical tag including an address from a classless hierarchical address forwarding scheme describing a multipoint forwarding tree, wherein said address is at least one address selected from the group consisting of a classless hierarchical MAC address and Hierarchical VLAN identifier (HVID),
- an egress port, and
- a subnet mask adapted for relaying frames according to at least one of:
- said hierarchical address, or a combination of a hierarchical address and at least one of a MAC address and a Port address;
- and
- including, in the bridge, algorithms for detecting a forwarding rule that is a best match from a plurality of forwarding rules obtained for one said address from the application of a plurality of subnet masks in said filtering database.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.