The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 06, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 20, 1998
Joseph Wesley, Quincy, MA (US);
Stephen A. Hurst, Nashua, NH (US);
Miriam C. Kadansky, Westford, MA (US);
Stephen R. Hanna, Bedford, MA (US);
Philip M. Rosenzweig, Acton, MA (US);
Dah Ming Chiu, Acton, MA (US);
Radia J. Perlman, Acton, MA (US);
Sun Microsystems, Incorporated, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An embodiment consistent with the present invention includes a method and apparatus for forming a multicast repair tree. The method may be performed by a data processor and comprises the steps of determining, for each of a plurality of potential heads in a multicast group, a ranking value associated with the potential head; advertising, by the potential heads to a plurality of potential receivers; prioritizing, by a potential receiver, the ranking values from the potential heads; and binding, by a potential receiver to the head having the highest ranking value, thereby forming a group of which the potential receiver is a member and the potential head is the head. The head may also be the sender. There may be a plurality of heads. The ranking values may include “able”, “unable”, “willing”, and “reluctant.” The ranking value of a potential head may be determined in accordance with a static or a dynamic configuration. Ranking values may be determined dynamically based on ranges of system resource levels such as memory and available processor resources.