METHOD ENABLING FAST SWITCHING BETWEEN MULTICAST TREES

摘要

Presented are a system and method of detecting a multicast tree link failure and performing a fast switch from the failed multicast tree communication path to a secondary multicast tree communication path. The methods are suitable for leaf nodes in a multiprotocol label switching network. The method generates a count of communication path failure detection packets and a count of communication path failure detection packets plus other packets and compares the counts to determine the status of the link. The system includes two counter components and a comparison component.

主权项

1. A method, stored in a memory and executing on a processor or a specific purpose network processor, for switching a communication path between multicast trees, said method comprising:
generating a first count, during a predefined interval, of communication path failure detection packets arriving at a leaf node; generating a second count, during said predefined interval, of said communication path failure detection packets and other packets arriving at said leaf node; and comparing said first count and said second count and if said second count is within a predefined value of said first count then acting to switch said communication path to a secondary multicast tree.