Patent ID: 9264295
Filing Date: 2016-02-16
CPC Classification: H04L,H04Q,H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method of using a controller to control switches in a network having end hosts that are coupled to the switches, the method comprising: with the controller, configuring switches in the network to identify broadcast network data packets that are received by the switches from the end hosts and to forward the identified broadcast network data packets to the controller; with the controller, maintaining information identifying subsets of the end hosts that are associated with respective different broadcast domains; with the controller, controlling a first set of switches coupled to end hosts of a first broadcast domain and a second set of switches coupled to end hosts of a second broadcast domain that is different from the first broadcast domain by providing forwarding table entries to the first and second sets of switches, wherein at least one non-client switch that is not controlled by the controller is interposed between first and second switches in the first set of switches; with the controller, receiving the broadcast network data packets from a given end host of the first broadcast domain via the first switch; and with the controller, forwarding the broadcast network data packets to the end hosts of the first broadcast domain while bypassing the non-client switch by sending the forwarding table entries to at least the second switch.