Patent ID: 8787217

Claim:
A layer 2 network device configured for fast retransmission of proposal messages, comprising: a first port; a second port; a data storage system for storing (i) a data structure for mapping each one of a set of one or more layer 2 addresses to a port of the network device and (ii) an hello-timer value (ht) that defines the interval between periodic transmissions of configuration messages; and a data processing system coupled to the data storage system and the ports, wherein the layer 2 network device is configured such that, after a port of the layer 2 network device is activated, the layer 2 network device: (1) transmits onto a local area network (LAN) to which the port is connected a proposal message, the transmission of said proposal message occurring at time Ts; and (2) transmits another proposal message onto the LAN at time T 1 if by that time the network device has not received, from a second layer 2 network device, a response to said proposal message, wherein T 1 −Ts<ht.