Patent ID: 8594087
Filing Date: 2013-11-26
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A multicast packet duplication system, comprising: an input port configured to receive a multicast packet including multicast address data; a pointer table including a plurality of pointers that are selectable based upon the multicast address data, each pointer from among the plurality of pointers including a plurality of entries; a linked-list table including a plurality of multicast descriptors that are identifiable by a corresponding entry from among the plurality of entries; and a plurality of output ports configured to output a plurality of duplicates of the multicast packet based upon an identified multicast descriptor from among the plurality of multicast descriptors, the plurality of duplicates being distributed on a per port basis on at least one of the plurality of the output ports based upon the identified multicast descriptor, rather than by distributing the packet on all of the plurality of output ports; wherein at least one of the plurality of multicast descriptors is shared among multiple output ports from among the plurality of output ports.