Switching system for virtual LANs

Abstract

A switch encapsulates incoming information using a header, and removes the header upon egress. The header is used by both distributed ingress nodes and within a distributed core to facilitate switching. The ingress and egress elements preferably support Ethernet or other protocol providing connectionless media with a stateful connection. Preferred switches include management protocols for discovering which elements are connected, for constructing appropriate connection tables, for designating a master element, and for resolving failures and off-line conditions among the switches. Secure data protocol (SDP), port to port (PTP) protocol, and active/active protection service (AAPS) are all preferably implemented. Systems and methods contemplated herein can advantageously use Strict Ring Topology (SRT), and conf configure the topology automatically. Components of a distributed switching fabric can be geographically separated by at least one kilometer, and in some cases by over 150 kilometers.

1 - 34 . (canceled)  
     
     
         35 . A switching system that provides for virtual LANs to exist in multiple switch nodes as native VLANs without the use of VLAN trunks or VLAN tagging, by employing a distributed switch fabric.  
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35  wherein the distributed switch fabric comprises a plurality of ingress switching elements, each with a plurality of input and output ports; hardware that adds a routing header to the packets entering the input ports of the plurality of ingress elements,  
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36  wherein the distributed switch fabric further comprises a plurality of egress switching elements, each with a plurality of input and output ports.  
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the distributed switch fabric comprises a backbone that provides active switching among the plurality of ingress and egress elements.  
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38  wherein each of the switching elements is adapted to use the routing header to pass the packets through the backbone from one of the ingress switching elements to at least one of the egress switching elements to which the one ingress element is not otherwise directly connected.