Patent ID: 8018872

Claim:
A method for mitigating layer-2 loops in a network having multiple terminals, the method comprising: identifying a plurality of active home networking interfaces on a first terminal; detecting a loop between a first terminal in the network and a second terminal in the network; determining a minimal set of active home networking interfaces at the terminal that are involved in a loop; deactivating all but one of the active home networking interfaces in the minimal set, wherein the step of deactivating comprises: selecting one active home networking interface in the minimal set to remain active, wherein the step of selecting comprises: choosing an active home networking interface from the minimal set that exhibits a highest priority ranking in accordance with one or more preconfigured interface priorities, wherein the step of identifying comprises: identifying a total number of active home networking interfaces at the first terminal; transmitting at least one broadcast packet out of each of the identified home networking interfaces from the first terminal; and detecting a loop if a transmitted packet is detected back at the first terminal, and wherein the step of determining comprises: testing each pair of active home networking interfaces in a set comprising a total number of active home networking interfaces for the presence of a loop; and including in the minimal set each home networking interface from a pair that tests positive for a loop.