Patent ID: 9246796
Filing Date: 2016-01-26
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method of transmitting data in a network, the network including a first communication device having a plurality of network communication interfaces, a second communication device having a network communication interface, and a data processing node having a plurality of network communication ports, the data processing node being arranged to select a forwarding port on which to forward data destined for a given communication device, the forwarding port being selected on the basis of a port on which the data processing node receives data from the given communication device, the data processing node being arranged to select a preferred forwarding port in the case of receipt of data from the given communication device on more than one of the plurality of ports, wherein: the first communication device includes a first interface communicatively coupled to a first port of the data processing node and a second interface communicatively coupled to a second port of the data processing node; and the second communication device includes a third interface communicatively coupled to a third port of the data processing node, the method comprising: comparing at least one connectivity condition associated with the coupling between the first interface and the first port of the data processing node and at least one connectivity condition associated with the coupling between the second interface and the second port of the data processing node; selecting the first interface as a primary interface for the transmission of network traffic to destinations across the network on the basis of the comparison, and the second interface as a backup interface which is to be selected for the transmission of the network traffic in the case of a need to failover to the backup interface, wherein the coupling between the first interface and the first port of the data processing node provides a relatively direct communication path between the first communication device and the data processing node compared to the coupling between the second interface and the second port of the data processing node; while the first interface is selected as the primary interface, transmitting network traffic from the first communication device via the first interface; while the first interface is selected as the primary interface, transmitting at least one data message from the first communication device to the second port of the data processing node via the second interface, in order to enable the selection by the data processing node of the second port as the preferred forwarding port, for transmitting network traffic destined for the first communication device, in the event of the network traffic transmitted from the first communication device being received at the first port of the data processing node; and while the first interface is selected as the primary interface, receiving network traffic from the data processing node via the second interface, the network traffic having been received by the data processing node from the second communication device via the third port of the data processing node.