Various systems and methods for performing bit indexed explicit replication (BIER). For example, one method involves receiving a packet at a node. The packet includes a bit string. The node traverses the bit string and selects an entry in a bit indexed forwarding table (BIFT). The entry includes a forwarding bit mask. Based on the forwarding bit mask and the bit string, the node forwards the packet.

Example methods disclosed herein include registering a first leaf node to receive multicast data from a source via a first network node in response to receiving, from the first leaf node, a first message addressed to an anycast address, the anycast addressed being assigned to the first network node to associate the first network node with a second hierarchical level of a replication hierarchy. The disclosed example methods also include receiving the multicast data from a second network node associated with a first hierarchical level of the replication hierarchy. The disclosed example methods further include, after registering the first leaf node with the first network node, replicating the multicast data to generate copies of the multicast data to be transmitted via respective unicast paths to respective ones of a plurality of leaf nodes, including the first leaf node, registered with the first network node to receive the multicast data.

A method of utilizing a list of predictive paths by a map-server. The method includes receiving the list of predictive paths, storing the list of predictive paths in a memory, receiving, from a first network element, a request for a location of a user device, the request related to transmitting a packet to the user device, and transmitting, to the first network element, a plurality of user locations based on the list of predictive paths, the plurality of user locations identifying where a second user device will transmit the packet when the packet is received by the second user device.

A bit error information transfer method, a network device, and a communications system are provided, so as to resolve a problem that an existing BFD mechanism cannot be applied to a layer 2 network and cannot be widely applied. In some feasible implementation manners of the application, the method includes: detecting, by a second network device, whether a bit error occurs on a first unidirectional link from a first network device to the second network device; when detecting that a bit error occurs on the first unidirectional link, generating an ISIS packet including bit error information, where the bit error information is used to indicate that the bit error occurs on the first unidirectional link; and sending the ISIS packet to the first network device.

In one embodiment, a device in a channel hopping, communication network independently maintains a slot counter, and computes a channel identification (ID) based on a function having inputs of a unique feature of the device, ii) a current slot of the slot counter, and iii) a set of possible channel IDs. Accordingly, the device configures its radio to receive on the computed channel ID for the respective current slot. In another embodiment, the device may determine, for a neighbor device, a current neighbor slot and unique neighbor feature, and correspondingly computes a neighbor channel ID based on the function using the unique neighbor feature, the current neighbor slot, and the set of a possible channel IDs. As such, the device configures its radio to transmit on the computed neighbor channel ID for the respective current neighbor slot.

Aspects of the present invention include a port extender environment using the port extenders to dynamically select a data path. In embodiments of the present invention, each port extender can communicate data traffic to another port extender or to a host receiver. The communication path is selected in the port extender using a hashing system.

The method of establishing a multicast data channel in a network virtualization system includes: creating, on a controller, a virtual remote logical interface for an external interface of a remote node; generating, a multicast tree tunnel that uses a core node as a root, and obtaining a multicast protocol packet sent by a device outside the network virtualization system; acquiring, a multicast source address and a multicast group address from the multicast protocol packet, and generating a multicast forwarding table; searching, the multicast forwarding table for an external interface of the core node, searching for an outbound interface of the multicast tree tunnel on the core node according to the multicast tree tunnel, and generating a P2MP PW forwarding table of the core node, and sending the P2MP PW forwarding table of the core node to the core node. The method implements a multicast service in a virtual cluster router.

In an embodiment, a method comprises: detecting a change in a multiple-switch configuration in a data communications network comprising a plurality of packet data switches configured as roots of multicast trees. In response to detecting that the multiple-switch configuration has changed, a first value, a second value and a third value representing limits on a number of multicast trees supported in the network and prioritization of the switches are retrieved. The method further comprises determining a type of the multiple-switch configuration change. In response to determining that the type indicates that a first switch was added to the multiple-switch configuration, using at least the first, second and third values, it is determined whether to configure the first switch as a first root in the multiple-switch configuration. The method is performed by one or more computing devices.

For logical multicasting in overlay networks, at a data processing system, an original unicast packet is received from a first component in a first computing node in an overlay network. To cause multicasting in the overlay network the received original unicast packet was unicast by the first computing node only to the data processing system, and a multicast data structure for the overlay network is maintained only by the data processing system, the multicast data structure containing information of each receiver that is configured to receive unicast packets during logical multicasting in the overlay network. From a set of subscriber receivers in the multicast data structure, a subset of the subscriber receivers is selected. A copy of the original unicast packet is unicast to each subscriber receiver in the subset.

A mapping relationship between a private network multicast group address, which may be preset to support switching from a default Multicast Distribution Tree (MDT) to a data MDT, and a data group address may be stored in a first PE device. If a private network multi cast data flow corresponding to the mapping relationship satisfies a condition of switching from the default MDT to the data MDT, the first PE device may send a data MDT switch initiation packet including the private network multicast group address and the data group address to a second PE device on the default MDI, so that the second PE device joins the data MDT, a root of which is the first PE device, using the data group address. The first PE device may switch the private network multicast data flow to the data MDT, so that the private network multicast data flow is transmitted on the data MDT.