MAC flush optimizations for ethernet rings

摘要

Techniques are identified for optimizing the MAC flush in Ethernet rings for faster traffic restoration. In one embodiment, flushing of MAC addresses is performed only once on receiving a first control message. For example, when a first control message is received, a network device may switch from a first state to a second state, which may indicate that the MAC addresses are not to be flushed if additional control messages are received. In another embodiment, flushing of MAC addresses is performed on one ring port rather than on both ring ports. For example, a flag field of a control message header may be used to determine on which port to flush. In another embodiment, flushing of MAC addresses is performed on only one ring port of an interconnection node. For example, the ring port can be determined using a flag field and possibly labels associated with the ring ports.

主权项

1. A network device, comprising:
a first port and a second port configured to connect the network device to a major ring network; a third port configured to connect the network device to a minor ring network; and a memory configured to store address information for each of the first port, the second port, and the third port, wherein the address information for each of the first port, the second port, and the third port includes one or more network addresses for one or more other network devices in the major ring network or the minor ring network; wherein the network device is configured to:
determine that a control message received at the third port indicates a failure in the minor ring network, the control message including a flag providing information about a path taken by the control message in the minor ring network, the flag indicating whether the path includes a network device designated as an owner of the minor ring network;select, using the flag, a port from among the first port and the third port; andclear the one or more network addresses stored in the memory for the selected port.