Patent ID: 6868071

Claim:
A method of transmitting data through a mesh of data switches, the method comprising: receiving a data frame at a first port of a receiving data switch, the data frame originating at a first MAC device and having a destination address associated with a second MAC device, the second MAC device being associated with a destination data switch in the mesh; maintaining a data structure associating each of a plurality of destination addresses of discovered MAC devices with one of a port and an aggregation of ports on the receiving data switch; comparing the destination address of the received data frame with the data structure to determine a match with an associated one of a port and aggregation of ports; transmitting the received data frame through the mesh of data switches according to a spanning tree protocol if no match is determined; receiving a message at the receiving data switch specifying the destination data switch associated with the destination address of the second MAC device; associating in the data structure the destination address of the second MAC device with a transmitting port on the receiving data switch; and suspending a transition for transmission of subsequent data frames to the second MAC device through a data path including the transmitting port to ensure a delay from a transmission of a last data frame according to the spanning tree protocol to a transmission of a first data frame according to a different protocol through the data path.