Patent ID: 8223767
Filing Date: 2012-07-17
Classification: H04L,Y02D

Abstract:
1. A method of distributing a plurality of multicast streams to a plurality of hosts on a link-aggregation-group between a first network element and a second network element, wherein the plurality of hosts are coupled to the second network element and the link-aggregation-group includes a plurality of links coupling the second network element and the first network element, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, with the first network element, a multicast request that requests to join one of the plurality of multicast streams from one of the plurality of hosts, wherein the multicast request includes a type code that indicates a type of the requested multicast stream; determining a bandwidth amount for the one of the plurality of multicast streams using the type code contained in the requested multicast request; allocating the bandwidth amount on one of the plurality of links; and in response to a successful allocation of the bandwidth amount, updating a forwarding table to indicate that the requested one of the plurality of multicast streams is to be forwarded on the one of the plurality of links.