Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xia et al (US 2021/0058260) (hereinafter Xia).
Regarding claim 1, Xia discloses a multicast forwarding method across Autonomous Systems (ASs), wherein the method is applied to a network device, the network device (see Xia, Figs. 6-8, e.g., ASBR 2) is deployed as both a Bit Forwarding Egress Router (BFER) in a first Bit Indexed Explicit Replication (BIER) domain and a Bit Forwarding Ingress Router (BFIR) in a second BIER domain, the first BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a first AS belongs, the second BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a second AS belongs, and the network device is located in the second AS (see Xia, Figs 6-8, p. [0121], e.g., A multicast domain may include a plurality of BIER domains (for example, a BIER domain 100, a BIER domain 200, and a BIER domain 300). Multicast data needs to be sent from a sender (a BFIR on a multicast source side), undergoes many times of BIER intra-domain forwarding and BIER inter-domain forwarding, and finally arrives at each receiver (user-side BFER). From a perspective of the entire multicast domain, a BIER domain is equivalent to an autonomous system (AS). A BFIR and a BFER between BIER domains are also called autonomous system border routers (ASBRs)); the method comprises:
establishing, (see Xia, Fig. 7A, step S104) according to a multicast join packet initiated by a multicast receiver (e.g., if a BFER in the BIER domain 200 is interested in the multicast group), BIER multicast forwarding information (e.g., PMSI A-D route) for being multicast forwarded in the second BIER domain (e.g., BIER domain 200), wherein the multicast receiver is connected to a second edge node in the second AS, the second edge node serves as a BFER in the second BIER domain (e.g., Fig. 6, Receiver BFER-G), the multicast join packet is used to join a target multicast group (e.g., Fig. 6, Sender: S, G data in BIER domain 100), the target multicast group is a multicast group to which a multicast source connected to a first edge node in the first AS belongs, and the first edge node serves as a BFIR in the first BIER domain (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0142], e.g., after the intra-domain BGP message carrying the intra PMSI A-D route sent by the ASBR 2 is received, if a BFER in the BIER domain 200 is interested in the multicast group represented by the multicast information, the BFER feeds back the leaf A-D route to the sender by using the intra-domain BGP message, where the leaf A-D route carries a BFR-prefix of the BFER. Herein, the BFER interested in the multicast group is a receiver of the multicast group, and p. [0135], e.g., S104: Perform BIER inter-domain multicast information advertisement, and p. [0138], e.g., the ASBR 2 needs to feed back a leaf A-D route to the ASBR 1, where the leaf A-D route carries a BFR-prefix of the ASBR 2, and p. [0140], e.g., the ASBR 2 sends the intra PMSI A-D route to a BFER in the BIER domain 200 by using the intra-domain BGP message, to advertise the multicast information from the sender); and
modifying a Bit Forwarding Router Identifier (BFR ID) of the second edge node carried in the multicast join packet into a first BFR ID, and continuing to send the multicast join packet to the first edge node, wherein the first BFR ID is a BFR ID configured when the network device is deployed as the BFER in the first BIER domain (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0143], e.g., S101, the ASBR 2 can know BIFT-ids required for sending the multicast data to BFERs with different BFR-ids).
Regarding claim 2, Xia discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving multicast source information from the multicast source; and forwarding the multi cast source information in the second BIER domain (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0140], e.g., the ASBR 2 sends the intra PMSI A-D route to a BFER in the BIER domain 200 by using the intra-domain BGP message, to advertise the multicast information from the sender).
Regarding claim 3, Xia discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein receiving the multicast source information from the multicast source comprises: receiving the multicast source information from the multicast source through a first Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) route, wherein the first BGP route is a BGP route between the network device and a first node device (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0140], e.g., the ASBR 2 sends the intra PMSI A-D route to a BFER in the BIER domain 200 by using the intra-domain BGP message, to advertise the multicast information from the sender); and/or forwarding the multicast source information in the second BIER domain comprises: forwarding the multicast source information in the second BIER domain through a second BGP route, wherein the second BGP route comprises: a BGP route between the network device and at least one edge node in the second BIER domain. Regarding claim 4, Xia discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the BIER multicast forwarding information corresponds to the target multicast group, and comprises at least: the BFR ID of the second edge node, and a next-hop neighbor for reaching the second edge node (see Xia, p. [0107-0110], e.g., the BFR generates a BIRT comprising a mapping of BFR-id, BFR-prefix and BFR-NBRs which is a next hop).
Regarding claim 5, Xia discloses a multicast forwarding method across Autonomous Systems (ASs), wherein the method is applied to a network device, the network device is deployed as both a Bit Forwarding Egress Router (BFER) in a first Bit Indexed Explicit Replication (BIER) domain and a Bit Forwarding Ingress Router (BFIR) in a second BIER domain, the first BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a first AS belongs, the second BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a second AS belongs, and the network device is located in the second AS; the method comprises:
receiving (see Xia, Fig. 7A, step S104) a first multicast packet belonging to a target multicast group for being multicast forwarded in the first BIER domain, wherein the first multicast packet is from a multicast source connected to a first edge node in the first AS, the first edge node serves as a BFIR in the first BIER domain, and the target multicast group is a multicast group to which the multicast source belongs (see Xia. P. [0155-0158], e.g., Perform multicast data forwarding in the BIER domain 100. Specifically, when multicast data arrives, the sender searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the BIER domain 100, and p. [0158], e.g., the ASBR 1 encapsulates the multicast data with a GRE or MPLS header, and sends the multicast data to the ASBR 2);
converting (e.g., Fig. 7B, S110), according to BIER multicast forwarding information corresponding to the target multicast group, the first multicast packet originally for being multicast forwarded in the first BIER domain into a second multicast packet for being multicast forwarded in the second BIER domain, wherein the BIER multicast forwarding information is established according to a multicast join packet initiated by a multicast receiver connected to each edge node in the second BIER domain when joining the target multicast group; and forwarding the second multicast packet in the second BIER domain (see Xia, p. [0159-0160], e.g., S110: Perform multicast data forwarding in the BIER domain 200 and p. [0160], e.g., the ASBR 2 parses the received multicast data encapsulated with the GRE or MPLS header. Then, the ASBR 2 searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the BIER domain 200, where the bitstring is determined in S103. The ASBR 2 generates a BIER header by using the bitstring and the BIFT-id, and performs BIER encapsulation on the multicast data to obtain a BIER data packet. In this way, the ASBR 2 and a transit BFR in the BIER domain 200 can forward the multicast data to the receiver in the BIER domain 200 based on the BIER header and the BIER forwarding mechanism, and p. [0166-0168], e.g., the BFIR in the another domain also searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the another domain and a BIFT-id required for forwarding the multicast data to a receiver in the another domain, and generates a BIER header for the multicast data).
Regarding claim 6, Xia discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein converting, according to the BIER multicast forwarding information corresponding to the target multicast group, the first multicast packet originally for being multicast forwarded in the first BIER domain into the second multicast packet for being multicast forwarded in the second BIER domain comprises: restoring an original multicast packet from the first multicast packet; and in a case where it is determined that the BIER multicast forwarding information corresponding to the target multicast group carried in the original multicast packet has been established, converting, according to the BIER multicast forwarding information, the original multicast packet into the second multicast packet for being multicast forwarded in the second BIER domain (see Xia, p. [0159-0160], e.g., S110: Perform multicast data forwarding in the BIER domain 200 and p. [0160], e.g., the ASBR 2 parses the received multicast data encapsulated with the GRE or MPLS header. Then, the ASBR 2 searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the BIER domain 200, where the bitstring is determined in S103. The ASBR 2 generates a BIER header by using the bitstring and the BIFT-id, and performs BIER encapsulation on the multicast data to obtain a BIER data packet. In this way, the ASBR 2 and a transit BFR in the BIER domain 200 can forward the multicast data to the receiver in the BIER domain 200 based on the BIER header and the BIER forwarding mechanism, and p. [0166-0168], e.g., the BFIR in the another domain also searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the another domain and a BIFT-id required for forwarding the multicast data to a receiver in the another domain, and generates a BIER header for the multicast data).
Regarding claim 7, Xia discloses the method according to claim 6, wherein the first multicast packet carries first encapsulation information for being forwarded in the first BIER domain; restoring the original multicast packet from the first multicast packet comprises: decapsulating the first encapsulation information carried in the first multicast packet to obtain the original multicast packet (see Xia, p. [0159-0160], e.g., S110: Perform multicast data forwarding in the BIER domain 200 and p. [0160], e.g., the ASBR 2 parses the received multicast data encapsulated with the GRE or MPLS header. Then, the ASBR 2 searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the BIER domain 200, where the bitstring is determined in S103. The ASBR 2 generates a BIER header by using the bitstring and the BIFT-id, and performs BIER encapsulation on the multicast data to obtain a BIER data packet. In this way, the ASBR 2 and a transit BFR in the BIER domain 200 can forward the multicast data to the receiver in the BIER domain 200 based on the BIER header and the BIER forwarding mechanism, and p. [0166-0168], e.g., the BFIR in the another domain also searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the another domain and a BIFT-id required for forwarding the multicast data to a receiver in the another domain, and generates a BIER header for the multicast data).
Regarding claim 8, Xia discloses the method according to claim 6, wherein converting, according to the BIER multicast forwarding information, the original multicast packet into the second multicast packet for being multicast forwarded in the second BIER domain comprises: encapsulating second encapsulation information for being multicast forwarded in the second BIER domain on an outer layer of the original multicast packet to obtain the second multicast packet, wherein the second multicast packet carries at least a bitstring, specified bits in the bitstring are provided with preset values, the specified bits correspond to edge nodes connected to multicast receivers in the second BIER domain, and the preset values are used to indicate that the second multicast packet requires to be forwarded to the edge nodes corresponding to the specified bits (see Xia, p. [0159-0160], e.g., S110: Perform multicast data forwarding in the BIER domain 200 and p. [0160], e.g., the ASBR 2 parses the received multicast data encapsulated with the GRE or MPLS header. Then, the ASBR 2 searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the BIER domain 200, where the bitstring is determined in S103. The ASBR 2 generates a BIER header by using the bitstring and the BIFT-id, and performs BIER encapsulation on the multicast data to obtain a BIER data packet. In this way, the ASBR 2 and a transit BFR in the BIER domain 200 can forward the multicast data to the receiver in the BIER domain 200 based on the BIER header and the BIER forwarding mechanism, and p. [0166-0168], e.g., the BFIR in the another domain also searches for a bitstring that corresponds to the multicast data in the another domain and a BIFT-id required for forwarding the multicast data to a receiver in the another domain, and generates a BIER header for the multicast data).
Regarding claim 9, Xia discloses a multicast forwarding apparatus across Autonomous Systems (ASs), wherein the apparatus is applied to a network device, the network device (see Xia, Figs. 6-8, e.g., ASBR 2) is deployed as both a Bit Forwarding Egress Router (BFER) in a first Bit Indexed Explicit Replication (BIER) domain and a Bit Forwarding Ingress Router (BFIR) in a second BIER domain, the first BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a first AS belongs, the second BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a second AS belongs, and the network device is located in the second AS (see Xia, Figs 6-8, p. [0121], e.g., A multicast domain may include a plurality of BIER domains (for example, a BIER domain 100, a BIER domain 200, and a BIER domain 300). Multicast data needs to be sent from a sender (a BFIR on a multicast source side), undergoes many times of BIER intra-domain forwarding and BIER inter-domain forwarding, and finally arrives at each receiver (user-side BFER). From a perspective of the entire multicast domain, a BIER domain is equivalent to an autonomous system (AS). A BFIR and a BFER between BIER domains are also called autonomous system border routers (ASBRs)); the apparatus comprises: at least one processor ; at least one non-transitory storage medium storing machine-executable instructions for execution by the at least one processor (see Xia, p. [0265-0266) to perform operations comprising:
establishing (see Xia, Fig. 7A, step S104), according to a multicast join packet initiated by a multicast receiver (e.g., if a BFER in the BIER domain 200 is interested in the multicast group), BIER multicast forwarding information (e.g., PMSI A-D route) for being multicast forwarded in the second BIER domain (e.g., BIER domain 200), wherein the multicast receiver is connected to a second edge node in the second AS, the second edge node serves as a BFER in the second BIER domain (e.g., Fig. 6, Receiver BFER-G), the multicast join packet is used to join a target multicast group, the target multicast group is a multicast group to which a multicast source connected to a first edge node in the first AS belongs, and the first edge node serves as a BFIR in the first BIER domain (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0142], e.g., after the intra-domain BGP message carrying the intra PMSI A-D route sent by the ASBR 2 is received, if a BFER in the BIER domain 200 is interested in the multicast group represented by the multicast information, the BFER feeds back the leaf A-D route to the sender by using the intra-domain BGP message, where the leaf A-D route carries a BFR-prefix of the BFER. Herein, the BFER interested in the multicast group is a receiver of the multicast group, and p. [0135], e.g., S104: Perform BIER inter-domain multicast information advertisement, and p. [0138], e.g., the ASBR 2 needs to feed back a leaf A-D route to the ASBR 1, where the leaf A-D route carries a BFR-prefix of the ASBR 2, and p. [0140], e.g., the ASBR 2 sends the intra PMSI A-D route to a BFER in the BIER domain 200 by using the intra-domain BGP message, to advertise the multicast information from the sender); and
modifying a Bit Forwarding Router Identifier (BFR ID) of the second edge node carried in the multicast join packet into a first BFR ID, and continue to send the multicast join packet to the first edge node, wherein the first BFR ID is a BFR ID configured when the network device is deployed as the BFER in the first BIER domain (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0143], e.g., S101, the ASBR 2 can know BIFT-ids required for sending the multicast data to BFERs with different BFR-ids).
Regarding claim 10, Xia discloses a multicast forwarding apparatus across Autonomous Systems (ASs), wherein the apparatus is applied to a network device, the network device is deployed as both a Bit Forwarding Egress Router (BFER) in a first Bit Indexed Explicit Replication (BIER) domain and a Bit Forwarding Ingress Router (BFIR) in a second BIER domain, the first BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a first AS belongs, the second BIER domain is a BIER domain to which a second AS belongs, and the network device is located in the second AS; the apparatus comprises: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory storage medium storing machine-executable instructions for execution by the at least one processor to perform the method according to claim 5 (see Xia, p. [0265-0266).
Regarding claim 11, Xia discloses the apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving multicast source information from the multicast source; and forwarding the multicast source information in the second BIER domain (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0140], e.g., the ASBR 2 sends the intra PMSI A-D route to a BFER in the BIER domain 200 by using the intra-domain BGP message, to advertise the multicast information from the sender).
Regarding claim 12, Xia discloses the apparatus according to claim 11, wherein receiving the multicast source information from the multicast source comprises: receiving the multicast source information from the multicast source through a first Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) route, wherein the first BGP route is a BGP route between the network device and a first node device (see Xia, Fig. 8, p. [0140], e.g., the ASBR 2 sends the intra PMSI A-D route to a BFER in the BIER domain 200 by using the intra-domain BGP message, to advertise the multicast information from the sender); and/or forwarding the multicast source information in the second BIER domain comprises: forwarding the multicast source information in the second BIER domain through a second BGP route, wherein the second BGP route comprises: a BGP route between the network device and at least one edge node in the second BIER domain.
Regarding claim 13, Xia discloses the apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the BIER multicast forwarding information corresponds to the target multicast group, and comprises at least: the BFR ID of the second edge node, and a next-hop neighbor for reaching the second edge node (see Xia, p. [0107-0110], e.g., the BFR generates a BIRT comprising a mapping of BFR-id, BFR-prefix and BFR-NBRs which is a next hop).
Conclusion
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/MINH TRANG T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477