Patent ID: 7551599
Filing Date: 2009-06-23
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for obtaining ingress to a layer-2 ring network to reach nodes thereof, said nodes including ingress nodes that couple said ring network to an external layer-3 network, the method comprising the steps of: in said ingress nodes, creating entries in a host table, each of said entries comprising an address of a respective one of said nodes of said ring network and a metric determined responsively to a topology of said ring network; thereafter uploading said host table to external elements of said layer-3 network; defining paths from said external elements to designated ones of said nodes of said ring network, by selecting one of said ingress nodes for each of said paths responsively to said metric; and transmitting data from network elements that are external to said ring network to at least one of said nodes via a selected one of said paths.