Patent ID: 9143353
Filing Date: 2015-09-22
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: issuing a Talker declaration for a layer 2 stream from a Talker device to one or more layer 2 bridges and one or more Listener devices in a network domain, the Talker declaration having a declaration type that advertises the Talker device is offering the layer 2 stream, and including a stream identifier (ID) that uniquely identifies the layer 2 stream, an indication of network bandwidth requirements of the layer 2 stream, and an indication of a priority of data frames belonging to the layer 2 stream, wherein the one or more layer 2 bridges do not include layer 3 functionality; receiving a Listener declaration at the Talker device from a Listener device of the one or more Listener devices, the Listener declaration including a same stream ID as the Talker declaration and having a declaration type that indicates at least one Listener device is ready to receive the layer 2 stream and that sufficient network bandwidth to meet the network bandwidth requirements of the stream has been allocated, based on at least one of the Listener declaration and the Talker declaration, by one or more intervening layer 2 bridges that received both the Talker declaration and the Listener declaration that include the same stream ID; and in response to receiving the Listener declaration at the Talker device, beginning transmission of the layer 2 stream from the Talker device to the Listener device via the one or more intervening layer 2 bridges.