Patent ID: 8929254
Filing Date: 2015-01-06
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. An Ethernet switch, comprising: a virtual switch on a physical switch, wherein the virtual switch logically partitions the physical switch into separate switching domains, and wherein the virtual switch forwards traffic independently of other virtual switches on the physical switch; and an Ethernet Tree (E-Tree) service instantiated via the virtual switch through a first private forwarding group and a second private forwarding group, wherein each of the first private forwarding group and the second private forwarding group includes a set of group-based associations and forwarding rules among logical interfaces of the virtual switch, wherein the E-Tree service utilizes three general categories of forwarding rules including private forwarding group-based rules, Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)-based rules, and Access Control List (ACL)-based rules; wherein Root User-Network Interface (UNI) ports are associated with the first private forwarding group and Leaf UNI ports are associated with the second private forwarding group; wherein the first private forwarding group is configured to forward packets received on any of the Root UNI ports to any other Root UNI ports connected to the first private forwarding group and to the second private forwarding group for forwarding to any Leaf UNI ports connected to the second private forwarding group; and wherein the second private forwarding group is configured to forward packets on any of the Leaf UNI ports to the first private forwarding group for forwarding to any Root UNI ports connected to the first private forwarding group.