Patent ID: 6807175
Filing Date: 2004-10-19
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A network router comprising:a multiplicity of transmit ports for forwarding packets from said router; transmit processors associated with said transmit ports; and a look-up and forwarding engine; wherein said look-up and forwarding engine is operative in response to the reception of an internet protocol multicast packet by said router to direct the multicast packet to a multiplicity of said transmit ports which may or may not be connected to the source network segment from which the multicast packet was received by the router; and wherein each transmit port is associated with a predetermined default network segment and said look-up and forwarding engine directs the multicast packet with an identification of the source network segment and control flags which enable said transmit processors associated with said transmit ports to determine by comparison of the respective network segment and the source network segment whether the packet is bridged from a respective port or routed, with relevant modification of the packet, from that port.