A New Ethernet Switching Method Based on Extended Forwarding Topology

Spanning tree protocol (STP) is an IEEE approved standard that provides a loop-free forwarding topology in Ethernet networks. When we deal with large scale networks, we need high bandwidth links close to the root node of the tree. In STP, all customers need to use the same spanning tree and there isnpsilat any traffic engineering mechanism for load balancing. These results in uneven load distribution and bottlenecks especially close to the root. In traditional STP, there are some blocked links, with no traffics on them to prevent loop in switching. In this paper, we propose a novel switching method based on extended forwarding topology that uses some blocked links to forward some traffic. This strategy will decrease the traffic on links and switches especially close to the root and has a good load balancing on links and switches. It also reduces the average number of switching hops.