Patent ID: 8014394
Filing Date: 2011-09-06
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for communication, comprising: operating a network element, wherein the network element further comprises multiple interconnected processing units and multiple ports, wherein each processing unit is assigned to a different subset of the multiple ports of the network element, and wherein each processing unit contains a processor for processing packets communicated over the different subset of the multiple ports to which the processing unit is assigned; storing in each processing unit a respective list, each list indicating all of one or more multicast packet streams that are permitted for forwarding by the network element, and further indicating which of the one or more ports each multicast packet stream is permitted to be forwarded to; receiving from a client a request relating to reception of a given multicast packet stream; distributing the request among the multiple processing units within the network element, and updating the respective list in each processing unit responsively to the request; and selectively forwarding multicast packets associated with the given multicast packet stream by the processing units in accordance with the respective updated lists, wherein operating the network element comprises aggregating two or more of the ports to form a high-capacity port, and wherein aggregating the ports comprises setting an upper limit on a number of the multicast packet streams that are permitted for forwarding over the high-capacity port, wherein the request indicates that the given multicast packet stream is to be forwarded over the high-capacity port, and wherein updating the list comprises modifying the list to indicate that the given multicast packet stream is permitted for forwarding over the high-capacity port only when the number of the multicast packet streams that are permitted for forwarding over the high-capacity port, including the given multicast packet stream, does not exceed the upper limit.