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:
Apr. 23, 2013
Filed:
Mar. 20, 2006
Zenon Kuc, San Jose, CA (US);
Yan Yang, Fremont, CA (US);
Avaya Inc., Basking Ridge, NJ (US);
Abstract
A modified Ethernet packet includes a MAC address unlearn flag. A port receiving the packet unlearns the specified MAC address, i.e., removes the corresponding entry from its forwarding table. Unlearn packets may be generated by a switch CPU in response to detection of a port failure in order to remove entries associated with the failed port. The modified Ethernet packet may alternatively, or also, include an attribute learn field. An Ethernet switch is operable to learn the specified attribute in response to receipt of the packet. Attributes that may be specified include: copy-to-CPU; static; class-of-service; source-discard; destination-discard; and L3. The copy-to-CPU attribute is operable to prompt copying of subsequent packets observed with the same SA to the CPU. The static attribute is operable to prompt prevention of a specified MAC address from being removed from a forwarding table due to aging. The class-of-service attribute is operable to prompt override of a packet class-of-service value with a specified value for subsequent packets of a specified MAC address. The source-discard attribute is operable to prompt discard of subsequent packets having a specified SA. The destination-discard attribute is operable to prompt discard of subsequent packets having a specified DA. The L3 attribute is operable to prompt packets destined for a specified MAC address to be routed rather than switched.