US5428615A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Many to few group address translation through a network bridge
Assignee: Enterasys Networks Inc
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Filing: 1994-07-21
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Granted: 1995-06-27
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Expires: 2014-07-21
Abstract
Abstract A connection apparatus for connecting a first communication system with a second communication system and a third communication system. A first frame is received from the first communication system, where the first frame has a multicast address as a destination address, and where the destination address requires the first frame to be transmitted onto the second communication system. The multicast address is translated into a functional address, and the functional address is written into a second frame transmitted onto the second communication system. The second frame is received and is transmitted onto a third communication system, and the functional address is translated into a multicast address for the third communication system, and the multicast address is written into a destination field of the frame as it is transmitted onto the third communication system. The second communication system may be a token ring system based upon an IEEE 802.5 standard, and the functional address may be written into a DSAP field and into a PROTOCOL TYPE field of an 802.5 Standard frame.
Inventors
- 👤 Floyd J. Backes
- 👤 William R. Hawe
- 👤 G. Paul Koning
- 👤 David J. Mitton
- 👤 Radia J. Perlman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 07:53
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L45/00; H04L45/74; H04L45/742; H04L12/00; H04L12/02; H04L12/16; H04L12/18; H04L12/1836; H04L12/28; H04L12/46; H04L2212/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
A connection apparatus for connecting a first communications system with a second communications system and a third communications system, comprising: means for receiving at least one first frame from said first communications system, said at least one first frame having a multicast address as a destination address, said multicast address requiring said at least one first frame to be transmitted onto said second communications system; means for translating said multicast address to a functional address, said functional address capable of translation by a station receiving a frame containing said functional address into said multicast address; and, means for writing said functional address into a second frame and for transmitting said second frame onto said second communications system, a station receiving said second frame to write said multicast address translated from said functional address into a destination address field of a third frame before transmitting said third frame onto said third communications system.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
152 words
A connection apparatus for connecting a first communications system with a second communications system and a third communications system, comprising: means for receiving at least one first frame from said first communications system, said at least one first frame having a multicast address as a destination address, said multicast address requiring said at least one first frame to be transmitted onto said second communications system; means for translating said multicast address to a functional address, said functional address capable of translation by a station receiving a frame containing said functional address into said multicast address; and, means for writing said functional address into a second frame and for transmitting said second frame onto said second communications system, a station receiving said second frame to write said multicast address translated from said functional address into a destination address field of a third frame before transmitting said third frame onto said third communications system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
70 words
A connection apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising: means for receiving at least one second frame from said second communications system, said at least one second frame having a functional address contained therein; means, responsive to said functional address for recovering said multicast address from said functional address and for placing said multicast address into a destination address field of a third frame transmitted onto said third communications system.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said functional address is placed in at least one designated field of said second frame.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said first communications system is an ethernet industry standard communications system.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said first communications is an ethernet system based upon an IEEE 802.3 standard.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said first communications system is a token ring based upon a Fiber Distributed Data Interface ANSI/IEEE FDDI (ISO 9314) standard.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said second communications system is a token ring system based upon an IEEE 802.5 standard.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
48 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said means for translating said multicast address to a functional address further comprises: a table containing at least one multicast address and a corresponding functional address; means, responsive to said multicast address, for retrieving from said table said corresponding functional address.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
63 words
The apparatus as in claim 8 wherein: said at least one multicast address is a plurality of multicast addresses and each multicast address of said plurality of said multicast addresses has a corresponding unique functional address; and said means for retrieving from said table retrieves the corresponding unique functional address for each of said multicast address of said plurality of said multicast addresses.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein: said functional address is divided into two values, and the first value is written into a DSAP field of said second frame and the second value is written into a PROTOCOL TYPE field of said second frame.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
83 words
The apparatus as in claim 10 further comprising: means for receiving an incoming frame from said second communications system; means, responsive to said first value in said DSAP field of said incoming frame and said second value in said PROTOCOL TYPE field of said incoming frame, for retrieving from said table a corresponding multicast address; means for writing said corresponding multicast address into a DESTINATION ADDRESS field of an outgoing frame; and means for transmitting said outgoing frame onto said third communications system.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein: said functional address is written into a standard header field of said second frame.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein: said multicast address is written into a standard destination address field of said third frame.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
136 words
A connection apparatus for connecting a first communications system with a second communications system, comprising: means for receiving at least one first frame from said first communications system, said at least one first frame having a multicast destination address, said multicast destination address requiring said at least one first frame to be transmitted onto said second communications system; means for writing a functional address corresponding said multicast address into a second frame and for transmitting said second frame onto said second communications system; means for receiving said second frame on said second communications system and for forwarding said frame onto a third communications system, means responsive to said functional address for recovering said multicast address and for placing said multicast address in a third frame, and for transmitting said third frame onto said third communications system.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
136 words
A connection apparatus for connecting a first communications system with a second communications system, comprising: means for receiving at least one first frame from said first communications system, said at least one first frame having a multicast destination address, said multicast destination address requiring said at least one first frame to be transmitted onto said second communications system; means for writing a functional address corresponding said multicast address into a second frame and for transmitting said second frame onto said second communications system; means for receiving said second frame on said second communications system and for forwarding said frame onto a third communications system, means responsive to said functional address for recovering said multicast address and for placing said multicast address in a third frame, and for transmitting said third frame onto said third communications system.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus as in claim 14 wherein said third communications system is an industry standard Ethernet system.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus as in claim 14 wherein said third communications system is an ethernet system based upon an IEEE 802.3 standard.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus as in claim 14 wherein said third communications system is a token ring based upon a Fiber Distributed Data Interface ANSI/IEEE FDDI (ISO 9314) standard.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
132 words
A connection apparatus for computer communications systems comprising: a first communications system; a second communications system; a third communications system; means for receiving at least one first frame from said first communications system, said at least one first frame having a multicast destination address, said multicast destination address requiring said at least one first frame to be transmitted onto said second communications system; means for writing a functional address corresponding to said multicast address into a second frame and for transmitting said second frame onto said second communications system; means for receiving said second frame on said second communications system; means, responsive to said functional address for recovering said multicast address and for placing said multicast address in a third frame, and for transmitting said third frame onto said third communications system.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
132 words
A connection apparatus for computer communications systems comprising: a first communications system; a second communications system; a third communications system; means for receiving at least one first frame from said first communications system, said at least one first frame having a multicast destination address, said multicast destination address requiring said at least one first frame to be transmitted onto said second communications system; means for writing a functional address corresponding to said multicast address into a second frame and for transmitting said second frame onto said second communications system; means for receiving said second frame on said second communications system; means, responsive to said functional address for recovering said multicast address and for placing said multicast address in a third frame, and for transmitting said third frame onto said third communications system.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-06-26 | 1998-12-26 | 1999-06-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-06-26 | 2002-12-26 | 2003-06-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-06-26 | 2006-12-26 | 2007-06-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |