Patent ID: 7327730
Filing Date: 2008-02-05
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A network switch, comprising: a plurality of connection ports for transceiving a data packet therefrom; a tag substitution rule table defining a tag substitution rule; a VLAN reference table defining the correlation of a tagging rule with a VLAN information of said data packet; an IP multicast table defining a relationship of a multicast port mask with a multicasting information of said data packet; a tag determination device optionally affixing a VLAN tag to said data packet, optionally replacing said VLAN tag, and optionally removing said VLAN tag from said data packet according to said tag substitution rule and said tagging rule by looking up said VLAN reference table and said IP multicast table; and a cross-disabling flag, wherein when said cross-disabling flag is preset ON, destination ports where said data packet is to be sent are determined according to an intersection port mask common to said multicast port mask and said VLAN port mask, and a VLAN tag is optionally affixed to or removed from said data packet according to said tagging rule.