Patent ID: 7075928
Filing Date: 2006-07-11
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method in an ATM switch comprising: generating a connection table in a memory; generating a multicast master entry in said connection table, said multicast master entry holding address locations at which multicast ATM cells are stored, said multicast master entry including a limit field and a count field; generating one or more multicast member entries associated with said multicast master entry in said connection table, each multicast member entry identifying a destination connection on which said multicast ATM cells are to be transmitted; initializing said count field in said multicast master entry; incrementing said count field each time a multicast ATM cell is received for said multicast master entry; decrementing said count field each time a multicast ATM cell is transmitted to said destination connection of one of said one or more multicast member entries; setting said limit field in said multicast master entry to a predetermined value; and indicating said multicast master entry inactive according to a comparison between the count field and the limit field.