Patent ID: 8477779
Filing Date: 2013-07-02
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. An adapter for processing a multicast message including one or more packets to be sent to a plurality of destinations, the adapter comprising: an entry port that receives the multicast message from a source for transmission to the plurality of destinations; at least one egress port that transmits the one or more packets of the multicast message to the plurality of destinations; and a message manager that monitors delivery status for the one or more packets of the multicast message to the plurality of destinations without using a plurality of dedicated individual connections between each of the plurality of destinations and the source, and sends a consolidated delivery status for the multicast message to the source after transmission of all the packets of the multicast message, wherein the message manager creates a data structure to track and process each of the packets, builds an entry for a flow key that is a unique identifier of a source of the multicast message and builds an entry for a packet sequence number upon receiving the multicast message; wherein the adapter is configured to receive an additional multicast message from the source for transmission to the destinations before the message manager provides the delivery status to the source for the multicast message previously received from the source.