SUPPORT OF TRIPLE PLAY SERVICES IN USER DEVICES
First Claim
1. A method of exchanging data packets between a user device and a plurality of service providers, the method comprising the steps of:
- defining in the user device at least two forwarding information bases (FIB), each FIB comprising an identity and an internet protocol (IP) address of a corresponding service provider, each FIB being associated with at least one service type, with a corresponding IP address allocated to the user device by the corresponding service provider, and with a corresponding tag;
inserting a given tag in a data packet; and
using the given tag to identify a given service provider and a given service type corresponding to the data packet.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Several services offered by distinct service providers can be accessed from a single user device, through one or more gateways. To ensure quality of service control, each service provider allocates a distinct address to the user device. Distinct forwarding information bases and service mappings are defined at the user device, comprising one such forwarding information base for each service provider and one service mapping for each service type offered by a given service provider. The separate addresses allocated to the user device are related to the separate service mappings. Distinct virtual local area networks (VLANs) are defined, each containing one of the forwarding information base and one of the service mappings. Tags added to packets by the gateways and arriving at the user device are used to link the packets to the proper service provider and to the proper service type.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method of exchanging data packets between a user device and a plurality of service providers, the method comprising the steps of:
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defining in the user device at least two forwarding information bases (FIB), each FIB comprising an identity and an internet protocol (IP) address of a corresponding service provider, each FIB being associated with at least one service type, with a corresponding IP address allocated to the user device by the corresponding service provider, and with a corresponding tag; inserting a given tag in a data packet; and using the given tag to identify a given service provider and a given service type corresponding to the data packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A user device for exchanging data packets with a plurality of service providers, comprising:
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an input/output (I/O) port adapted to receive data packets from the service providers; two or more service units adapted to process the data packets, wherein each service unit supports at least one service type; a memory adapted to store at least two forwarding information bases (FIB), each FIB comprising an identity and an internet protocol (IP) address of a corresponding service provider, each FIB being associated with at least one service type, with a corresponding IP address allocated to the user device by the corresponding service provider, and with a corresponding tag; and a service selector adapted to retrieve a given tag from a received data packet, to read from the memory a given service type and an identity of a given service provider by use of the given tag, and to forward the received data packet towards one of the two or more service units based on the given service type and on the identity of the given service provider. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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Specification