Abstract: An example embodiment includes a network element. The network element includes an ingress port, an ingress line card, a link aggregation group (LAG) including multiple egress ports, and a distributor. The ingress port receives multiple packets including flood traffic. The ingress line card separates the packets into buckets. The distributor is configured to allocate the buckets to the egress ports, transmit the buckets to the egress ports, and when a failed egress port is identified, reallocate the buckets from the failed egress port to at least one functional egress port while continuing to transmit the buckets to functional egress ports of the LAG.

Abstract: A system includes a network element. The network element includes multiple egress ports configured as a LAG, an ingress port, and a distributor. The ingress port is configured to receive multiple packets including at least one flood domain. Additionally, the distributor is configured to access a virtual local area network identifier (VID) of each flood domain. Based on the VID and the number of egress ports in the LAG, the distributor is configured to select a representative egress port from the multiple egress ports. The distributor additionally forwards packets of each flood domain to the egress port of the LAG which is selected as the representative egress port for that flood domain.

Abstract: A network element includes an ingress interface, a VSP queue, and a switch fabric (SWF). The ingress interface includes a first virtual subport (VSP) and a second VSP. The first VSP is configured to receive data traffic. The VSP queue is coupled to the second VSP such that data traffic transmitted to the VSP queue is transmitted from the network element via the second VSP. The SWF is configured to receive data traffic from the first VSP, determine whether an intended recipient of the data traffic is associated with the second VSP, and hairpin the data traffic to the VSP queue when the SWF determines that the intended recipient is associated with the second VSP.

Abstract: A network element coupled to a communication network is described. The network element includes multiple switching units. The switching units may be configured to independently implement a Spanning Tree Protocol (xSTP) processing in a completely distributed manner including each of the switching units independently calculating an external spanning tree for the network element in the communication network. The network element may act as a single bridge to other network elements in a bridging domain of the communication network.

Abstract: An example embodiment includes a network element. The network element includes an ingress port, an ingress line card, a link aggregation group (LAG) including multiple egress ports, and a distributor. The ingress port receives multiple packets including flood traffic. The ingress line card separates the packets into buckets. The distributor is configured to allocate the buckets to the egress ports, transmit the buckets to the egress ports, and when a failed egress port is identified, reallocate the buckets from the failed egress port to at least one functional egress port while continuing to transmit the buckets to functional egress ports of the LAG.

Abstract: A system includes a network element. The network element includes multiple egress ports configured as a LAG, an ingress port, and a distributor. The ingress port is configured to receive multiple packets including at least one flood domain. Additionally, the distributor is configured to access a virtual local area network identifier (VID) of each flood domain. Based on the VID and the number of egress ports in the LAG, the distributor is configured to select a representative egress port from the multiple egress ports. The distributor additionally forwards packets of each flood domain to the egress port of the LAG which is selected as the representative egress port for that flood domain.

Abstract: A network element coupled to a communication network is described. The network element includes multiple switching units. The switching units may be configured to independently implement a Spanning Tree Protocol (xSTP) processing in a completely distributed manner including each of the switching units independently calculating an external spanning tree for the network element in the communication network. The network element may act as a single bridge to other network elements in a bridging domain of the communication network.

Abstract: A network element includes an ingress interface, a VSP queue, and a switch fabric (SWF). The ingress interface includes a first virtual subport (VSP) and a second VSP. The first VSP is configured to receive data traffic. The VSP queue is coupled to the second VSP such that data traffic transmitted to the VSP queue is transmitted from the network element via the second VSP. The SWF is configured to receive data traffic from the first VSP, determine whether an intended recipient of the data traffic is associated with the second VSP, and hairpin the data traffic to the VSP queue when the SWF determines that the intended recipient is associated with the second VSP.