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:
Oct. 24, 2017
Filed:
Aug. 26, 2013
Ciena Corporation, Hanover, MD (US);
Eric Arthur Holmberg, San Anselmo, CA (US);
Paul Simon Nahlous, San Anselmo, CA (US);
Balaji Subramaniam, Rohnert Park, CA (US);
Ciena Corporation, Hanover, MD (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for effectuating control-plane changes at increased speeds to protect a network in which switching operations are performed. Operations to effectuate control-plane changes in the network can be divided between software and more-rapid, dedicated hardware within a line card. Examples of operations reserved to hardware implementation can include blocking and unblocking of ports, flushing of learned entries from switch tables, and coordination of control-plane changes through the generation of messages sent between nodes, and also between line cards of a node. Determinations about the need for hardware-driven, control-plane changes may be made based on events occurring in the network in accordance with any of a number of different network protection protocols. The protocol may be implemented in a state machine and the software may determine the state of the hardware through a master/slave relationship.