Method and apparatus for controlling packet flow in a packet-switched network
AssigneeAlcatel Lucent
InventorsScott K. Nam, Jonathan B. Wong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling data packet flooding in a data-communication network to promote network security and provide for more efficient utilization of network resources. One or more network nodes include a flooding disable device, for example a disable bit in a L2 hardware lookup table associated with a particular device in an Ethernet application. When the disabler is set, packets from the particular device are not flooded on all ports even when the node cannot associate a particular port with the packets' intended destination. The flooding disable in the network node may be set statically or dynamically, either by a network operator or by a communication received from a server or other network device.
Claims14
A method for controlling packet flow in a packet-switched network, comprising:
- receiving at least one packet in a network node;
- determining a destination associated with the at least one packet;
- determining a source associated with the at least one packet;
- determining whether flooding has been disabled for packets from the source associated with the at least one packet;
- determining whether the destination is associated with a port of the network node;
- discarding the at least one packet if flooding has been disabled for packets from the associated source and the destination is not associated with a port of the network node;
- and
- setting a timer for a predetermined duration when the at least one packet is discarded.
A node for a packet-switched network, comprising:
- a CPU;
- a plurality of ports for receiving and forwarding packets;
- a buffer coupled to the CPU for storing received packets until they are forwarded or discarded;
- a packet examiner coupled to the CPU for determining the source and the intended destination of received packets;
- an L2 hardware lookup table for maintaining a disable bit associated with the MAC address of a device to indicate whether the flooding of packets from a particular source by the node has been disabled;
- and
- a timer for indicating a predetermined duration when the received packets are discarded upon determining that the flooding has been disabled for the packets from the associated source and that the destination of the received packets is not associated with a port of the node.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.