Functional decomposition of a router to support virtual private network (VPN) services
First Claim
1. In a service provider (SP) network comprising a plurality of provider edge (PE) routers and customer sites each having a respective customer edge (CE) router, a method for providing virtual private network (VPN) connectivity between at least two customer sites, comprising:
- automatically generating at least one access module for each PE router associated with a VPN, such that customer sites that are associated with said VPN and have an identical export route target (RT) value and import RT value, are connected to a common access module;
generating an ingress-forwarding table for each access module; and
routing packetized information between said at least two customer sites via at least one label switched path.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing virtual private network (VPN) connectivity between at least two customer sites. Each of a plurality of PE routers includes at least one access module adapted for connectivity to at least one customer site. The access modules are generated automatically for each PE router associated with a VPN, wherein customer sites, which are associated with said VPN and have an identical export route target (RT) value and import RT value, are connected to a common access module. Otherwise, customer sites associated with the PE router that do not have identical export and import RT values are coupled to their own respective access modules at the PE router. Each access module generates an ingress-forwarding table for routing packetized information between the at least two customer sites.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. In a service provider (SP) network comprising a plurality of provider edge (PE) routers and customer sites each having a respective customer edge (CE) router, a method for providing virtual private network (VPN) connectivity between at least two customer sites, comprising:
-
automatically generating at least one access module for each PE router associated with a VPN, such that customer sites that are associated with said VPN and have an identical export route target (RT) value and import RT value, are connected to a common access module;
generating an ingress-forwarding table for each access module; and
routing packetized information between said at least two customer sites via at least one label switched path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A provider edge (PE) router comprising:
-
at least one access module adapted for connectivity to at least one customer site in a VPN, wherein customer sites associated with a particular VPN having any identical export route target (RT) values and import RT values are connected to a common access module; and
customer sites associated with said PE router that do not have identical export and import RT values are coupled to their own respective access modules at said PE router. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. In a service provider (SP) network comprising a plurality of provider edge (PE) routers and customer sites each having a respective customer edge (CE) router, an apparatus for providing virtual private network (VPN) connectivity between at least two customer sites, comprising:
-
means for automatically generating at least one access module for each PE router associated with a VPN, such that customer sites that are associated with said VPN and have an identical export route target (RT) value and import RT value, are connected to a common access module;
means for generating an ingress-forwarding table for each access module; and
means for routing packetized information between said at least two customer sites via at least one label switched path.
-
Specification