Patent ID: 8089967
Filing Date: 2012-01-03
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for modifying a switching table of an Internet Protocol (IP) switch, said method comprising: providing the IP switch, wherein the IP switch comprises multiple ports, the switching table which comprises at least one entry, and a lifetime for each entry of the at least one entry, wherein the multiple ports comprise a plurality of access ports and a plurality of interswitch ports, wherein each access port is identified by a port identifier and is connected to a corresponding host in a Local Area Network (LAN), wherein the interswitch ports are configured to be statically connected to routers within the Internet to connect the routers together in connections that cannot be overwritten by a dynamic learning process, wherein each entry of the at least one entry comprises an IP address, a port identifier associated with the IP address and identifying a port of the multiple ports, and a routing protocol internal metric indicative of confidence in the entry, and wherein the IP switch does not comprise a Media Access Control (MAC) table that associates a MAC address of each host in the LAN with each host's associated port identifier; receiving an incoming IP frame at a first access port of the plurality of access ports; after said receiving the incoming IP frame, said IP switch validating the received IP frame; after said validating, said IP switch reading from the IP frame an IP source address consisting of an address of a source from which the IP frame originated; and after said reading the IP source address, said IP switch manipulating the switching table, wherein said manipulating the switching table comprises either: