Patent ID: 8873431

Claim:
A communications system, comprising: a plurality of Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) enabled switches interconnected together and each having a plurality of ports and configured into a plurality of different Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) in a single topology map, said switches configured to process and transport data packets, at least some of the switches each including forwarding tables for a plurality of different VLANs, wherein: a particular switch includes both a forwarding table for a particular VLAN from the plurality of different VLANs and a forwarding table for at least one other different VLAN; the particular switch is communicatively coupled to an edge port that is included in the particular VLAN; and the particular switch is configured to perform a partial flush of the forwarding tables included in the particular switch only in response to receiving data from the edge port specifying a topology change and not receiving a Bridge Data Protocol Unit (BDPU) identifying the edge port, the partial flush including flushing the forwarding table for the particular VLAN and not flushing the forwarding table for one or more of the at least one other different VLANs.