METHOD FOR OPERATING MULTI-DOMAIN PROVIDER ETHERNET NETWORKS

• US 20100158017A1
• Filed: 12/22/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Casey, Liam
• Granted Patent: US 8,325,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.530
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4658 wherein a VLAN tag represents a service provider backbone VLAN, e.g. B-Tag, S-Tag
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4662 wherein a VLAN tag represents a service instance, e.g. I-SID in PBB
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

A method of enabling extension of a network service of a first domain to a remote customer site hosted by an Access Gateway (AG) in a Provider Ethernet domain. In the first domain, the remote customer site is represented as being hosted by a border gateway (BG) connected to the Provider Ethernet domain, such that subscriber packets associated with the network service are forwarded to or from the remote customer site via the BG. In the Provider Ethernet domain, a trunk connection is instantiated through the Provider Ethernet domain between the host AG and the BG. A trunk cross-connection function is installed in the host AG, for transferring subscriber packets associated with the network service between a respective attachment virtual circuit (AVC) through which the remote customer site is connected to the host AG and an extended AVC tunnelled through the trunk connection. A common service instance identifier (I-SID) is used to identify both the AVC between the host AG and the remote customer site and the extended AVC between the host AG and the BG.

Claims

1. In a network comprising a first autonomous domain connected to a Provider Ethernet domain via at least a border gateway (BGs) in the first autonomous domain, at least the second domain including an Access Gateway (AG) for hosting a remote customer site in the second domain, a method of enabling extension of a network service of the first domain to the remote customer site, the method comprising;

in the first domain, representing the remote customer site as being hosted by the BG, such that subscriber packets associated with the network service are forwarded to or from the remote customer site via the BG;

in the Provider Ethernet domain;

instantiating a trunk connection through the Provider Ethernet domain between the host AG and the BG; and

installing a trunk cross-connection function in the host AG, the trunk cross-connection function transferring subscriber packets associated with the network service between a respective attachment virtual circuit (AVC) through which the remote customer site is connected to the host AG and an extended AVC tunnelled through the trunk connection;

wherein a common service instance identifier (I-SID) is used to identify both the AVC between the host AG and the remote customer site and the extended AVC between the host AG and the BG.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the trunk connection is instantiated between the AG and the BG independently of the network service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the trunk cross-connection function is installed in the host AG during a process of connecting the remote customer site to the network service.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

for subscriber packets received from the remote customer site, the trunk cross-connection function uses the common I-SID to replace header information identifying the AVC with corresponding header information identifying at least the trunk connection; and

for subscriber packets received from the BG of the first domain, the trunk cross-connection function uses the common I-SID to replace header information identifying the trunk connection with corresponding header information identifying the AVC.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second domain is a Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) network domain, and the information identifying at least the trunk connection comprises a Bearer Source Address (B-SA), a Bearer Destination Address (B-DA), and a Bearer VLAN ID (B-VID) assigned to the trunk connection in the second domain.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the common I-SID is assigned to the AVC in the second domain.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the common I-SID is different from a respective service instance identifier assigned to the network service in the first domain.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising installing an I-SID mapping function in the BG, the I-SID mapping function controlling the BG such that:

packets associated with the network service and destined for the remote customer site are encapsulated with the I-SID of the AVC; and

packets associated with the network and received from the remote customer site are forwarded with the respective service instance identifier assigned to the network service.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the common I-SID is the same as a respective service instance identifier assigned to the network service in the first domain.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the respective service instance identifier assigned to the network service in the first domain is selected from a predetermined set of reserved service instance identifiers.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the predetermined set of reserved service instance identifiers is established independently of the network service.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the respective service instance identifier assigned to the network service in the first domain is supplied to the host AG during a process of connecting the remote customer site to the network service.