A method for distribution of utilization data in ATM networks and a communication network therefor

摘要

In a communication network having a set of hosts and switch based label swapping communication nodes, each node has a control processor that is also a host that sends and receives messages via the switching apparatus in its associated node. At least one of the hosts includes a distribution tree set up procedure. That procedure stores source and destination data designating a set of source hosts and a set of destination hosts in the communication network, and defines a distribution tree of virtual connections. The designated source hosts and destination hosts may include the control processors of some or all the network nodes. The defined virtual connections include a virtual connection from each designated source host to all of the designated destination hosts, and message labels for all messages sent by the source hosts to be routed to the destination nodes. The virtual connections convey each message from the source hosts that have the defined message labels to all the designated destination hosts as a single multicast message. The message labels are defined so that overlapping portions of the virtual connections use the same message labels. All the nodes in the distribution tree are programmed by sending one or more virtual connection set up messages that instruct the nodes in the distribution tree on the label swapping data to be stored in each such node. <IMAGE>