Patent Application

App. No. 13/906,662

Abstract

Claims (31)

1 . A computer-implemented method in which a computer system performs operations comprising:

identifying an ingress sender node and a set of egress receiver nodes for each of a plurality of multicast streams within a network; and

for any set of multicast streams that traverse said network from the same ingress sender node to the same set of egress receiver nodes, use a same address in the forwarding table in the core of said network.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein said network utilizes encapsulation in said core.

3 . The method of claim 2 further comprising allocating a unique Multicast Encapsulation Address for each unique combination of an ingress node and set of egress nodes that is used by at least one multicast stream.

4 . The method of claim 3 further comprising encapsulating said multicast streams having a same ingress sender node and said set of egress receiver nodes using said Multicast Encapsulation Address as a destination address in an encapsulation header.

5 . The method of claim 4 further comprising forwarding said multicast stream based on results of a lookup performed on said Multicast Encapsulation Address.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein said network comprises a Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) Network.

7 . The method of claim 6 further comprising allocating a unique Backbone Media Access Control (BMAC) address for each said ingress sender node and said set of egress receiver nodes that is used by at least one multicast stream.

8 . The method of claim 7 further comprising sending an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (ISIS) update including said BMAC address and said egress node system Identifiers (IDs).

9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising building a multicast tree routed at said ingress node and leading to each of said egress nodes in a list following shortest path rules.

10 . The method of claim 9 further comprising assigning said multicast tree to a Backbone Media Access Control Destination Address (BMAC_DA) formed using a nickname of said ingress node and its allocated I-SID.

11 . The method of claim 10 further comprising using said multicast tree and said associated BMAC_DA for all multicast streams matching said ingress node and said set of egress nodes to transport said multicast stream across said network.

12 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable code thereon for providing multicast state aggregation in transport networks, the medium including instructions in which a computer system performs operations comprising:

identifying an ingress sender node and a set of egress receiver nodes for each of a plurality of multicast streams within a network; and

for any set of multicast streams that traverse said network from the same ingress sender node to the same set of egress receiver nodes, use a same address in the forwarding table in the core of said network.

13 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 wherein said network utilizes encapsulation in said core.

14 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 further comprising allocating a unique Multicast Encapsulation Address for each unique combination of an ingress node and set of egress nodes that is used by at least one multicast stream and encapsulating said multicast streams having a same ingress sender node and said set of egress receiver nodes using said Multicast Encapsulation Address as a destination address in an encapsulation header.

15 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 further comprising forwarding said multicast stream based on results of a lookup performed on said Multicast Encapsulation Address.

16 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein said network comprises a Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) Network.

17 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 further comprising allocating a unique Backbone Media Access Control (BMAC) address for each said ingress sender node and said set of egress receiver nodes that is used by at least one multicast stream and sending an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (ISIS) update including said BMAC address and said egress node system Identifiers (IDs).

18 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 further comprising building a multicast tree routed at said ingress node and leading to each of said Egress nodes following shortest path rules and assigning said multicast tree to a Backbone Media Access Control Destination Address (BMAC_DA) formed using a nickname of said ingress node and its allocated I-SID.

19 . The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 further comprising using said multicast tree and said associated BMAC_DA for all multicast streams matching said ingress node and said set of egress nodes to transport said multicast stream across said network.

20 . A computer system comprising:

a memory;

a processor;

a communications interface;

an interconnection mechanism coupling the memory, the processor and the communications interface; and

wherein the memory is encoded with an application providing multicast state aggregation in transport networks, that when performed on the processor, provides a process for processing information, the process causing the computer system to perform the operations of:

identifying an ingress sender node and a set of egress receiver nodes for each of a plurality of multicast streams within a network; and

for any set of multicast streams that traverse said network from the same ingress sender node to the same set of egress receiver nodes, use a same address in the forwarding table in the core of said network.

Assignments (8)