Patent ID: 8059638

Claim:
A node for use in a data communication network, comprising: a dual-layer link aggregator, comprising: a peer link aggregator for allocating traffic on a peer link aggregation comprising a first plurality of ports, the peer link aggregation for communicating with a peer node of the node, wherein the peer node comprises a peer-node dual-layer link aggregator, wherein the peer link aggregator is arranged to add header information to each packet to be forwarded on the peer link aggregation, the header information comprising a source port number and a packet type; a distant link aggregator for allocating traffic on a distant link aggregation comprising a second plurality of ports, the distant link aggregation for communicating with a third node that is also in communication with the peer node; and an outer-link aggregator for allocating traffic on an outer-layer link aggregation comprising the first plurality of ports and the second plurality of ports; and wherein the dual-layer link aggregator is arranged to examine packets received in the node to determine their source and destination; a CPU (central processing unit) coupled to the dual-layer link aggregator; a buffer for storing packets that are received at the node; and an L2 (Layer 2) hardware lookup table for associating entities with ports or link aggregations of the node, wherein the L2 hardware lookup table does not associate any packet source with the distant link aggregation regardless of the port on which the packet was received; and wherein the peer link aggregator is arranged to insert a value indicating the outer-layer link aggregation as a source port number into the header of any packet received on the distant link aggregation and for which the destination is not associated with any port on the L2 hardware lookup table.