Patent ID: 8570901

Claim:
A method comprising: determining, by a network device in a computer network, a plurality of attribute events that each represent a virtual local area network (VLAN) registration state of a respective VLAN of a plurality of VLANs in the computer network; grouping the plurality of attribute events into a plurality of sets of two or more attribute events; for each set of two or more attribute events, computing an encoded value for the set with an encoding algorithm that encodes the two or more attribute events of the set into a single encoded value; loading each of the plurality of encoded values within an attribute structure of a protocol data unit (PDU) message, such that the plurality of encoded values that encompass the plurality of VLANs are included within the attribute structure of the PDU message; and transmitting the PDU message from the network device to one or more other network devices within the computer network.