Avaya Inc.

Richard Thomas Strong

Srikanth Keesara

Deborah Ellen Fitzgerald

Christopher Monti

Brian Thomas Bull

A mirroring configuration employs an alternate usage of an existing messaging protocol and mechanism for propagating mirroring control for remote mirroring of data streams. A source routing entity, i.e. a router or switch through which the mirrored stream passes, identifies the stream as available for monitoring. The enabled stream propagates from a source network device, typically from a router port, to a mirroring destination in addition to the addressed destination. A stream identifier emulates an identifier from an alternate usage, such as a multicast group identifier for a multicast protocol, and activates mirroring by inserting the stream identifier in publish and join messages of the multicast protocol.

System and method for data stream mirroring

Methods and apparatus provide for a network device(s) employing tree tracer processing of a data packet(s) and/or a response(s) in order to discover and graphically represent all the paths within a hierarchical tree of network devices for multicast traffic flows. Specifically, a first network device receives a data packet. The data packet provides a multicast target MAC address. The first network device forwards the data packet to a plurality of network devices, where each of the plurality of the network devices belong to a multicast group identified according to the multicast target MAC address. Based on receipt of the data packet, the first network device generates and transmits a first response to a source of the data packet. The first response indicates a placement of the first network device with respect to a hierarchical tree of the plurality of network devices belonging to the multicast group.

Multicast tree discovery using 802.1ag

Techniques disclosed herein include systems and methods for improving multicast traffic operations in a Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) network by conveying bridging domain information of an incoming interface (IIF) when transporting multicast traffic over the SPB network. Techniques disclosed herein include modifying encapsulation packet header information of existing Mac-In-Mac fields to convey additional information that can be interpreted at edge nodes by modifying edge node interpretation of multicast data. Specifically, the value of the I-SID in the BMAC-DA field can be set to be different from the I-SID value in the I-TAG field. Carrying the L2 VSN I-SID value in the I-TAG allows the Egress BEBs to determine which VLAN/L2 VSN/Bridging-Domain of the IIF is in use, and then modify or preserve underlying header information accordingly.

Conveying the VLAN/L2 VSN/bridging-domain of the incoming interface (IIF) when transporting multicast traffic over a shortest path bridged (SPB) network

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Amherst, NH, United States of America

Richard Thomas Strong