Patent ID: 7274694
Filing Date: 2007-09-25
Classification: H04L,Y02D

Abstract:
1. A method, implemented by management software on a plurality of devices included in a stacked set of devices, for creating a cross-stack port aggregation group including physical ports in at least two different devices in the stacked set of devices, with each device including a number of physical ports and a controller for executing management software, said method comprising the steps of: assigning a logical port number to each physical port included in the port aggregation group; assigning a unique group mask to each port in the port aggregation group; utilizing packet data in a received packet to access a destination index; associating the destination index with the received packet; generating a port selection index based on a field included in the received packet; providing the received packet and associated destination index to each potential destination in the stack; at each device, utilizing the destination index to access a destination descriptor including a port map indicating which ports of the device are included in the port aggregation group; at each device, for a selected port of the device, utilizing the port selection index, port map, and group mask for the selected device to determine whether to transmit the received packet from the selected port.