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:
Jun. 29, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 13, 2000
Kiyoshi Maruyama, Chappaqua, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method (and system) of creating a multicast packet by a source node in a world-wide network, includes providing each multicast packet with a predetermined indicator indicating that the packet includes a multicast packet, one of a plurality of multicast destinations being placed in a packet destination field and a list of remaining multicast destinations being provided in a packet header. A conventional router receiving a multicast packet handles it as a unicast packet and routes it in a conventional manner. A multicast-capable router receiving a multicast packet goes through a packet regeneration and routing process, creating multicast packets and/or unicast packets and then routing them using the conventional routing table. A destination node receiving a multicast packet goes through the packet regeneration and forwarding process, creating a multicast or unicast packet depending on the number of destinations in the received multicast packet and bouncing back the regenerated packet to the router to which the node is attached.