Patent ID: 6882630

Claim:
For a network comprising a plurality of local area network LAN segments interconnected by a plurality of protocol entities, a protocol entity comprising: a plurality of ports coupled to LAN segments in the network; topology management resources which manage the plurality of ports according to a spanning tree algorithm, to set an active topology for the plurality of ports based on configuration information stored in the protocol entity, wherein the topology management resources comprise: logic to compute configuration information in response to acceptance of configuration messages, the configuration information including an identification of a protocol entity in the network as a root of the network, an identification of a port in the plurality of ports for a root port role to be used for a preferred path to the root, and an identification of one or more ports in the plurality of ports for designated port roles to be used for preferred paths between the root and respective LAN segments in the plurality of LAN segments coupled to the one or more ports; logic to compute states for ports in the plurality of ports in response to the configuration information, including placing the port providing the root port role in a forwarding state, placing the one or more ports providing the designated port roles in a forwarding state, and placing other ports in a blocking state; and logic to accept configuration messages carrying topology information on a particular port, in response to a determination that the configuration message is received from a port on a neighboring protocol entity identified as the designated port for the particular port.