BRIDGING WIRELESS AND WIRED MEDIA IN A COMPUTER NETWORK

• US 20160007349A1
• Filed: 09/15/2015
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Finn, Norman W., O'Hara, Robert, Suri, Rohit, Broch, Joshua
• Granted Patent: US 9,445,418 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/462 LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/27 between access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

In one embodiment, a transmitting node may be configured to transmit a wireless advertisement frame over a computer network, wherein the frame includes a source address of a reachable node being advertised, a destination address to which the reachable node is to be advertised, a transmitter address of the transmitting node, and a receiver address of a wireless access point to which the wireless advertisement frame is to be received. Also, the wireless access point may be configured to receive the wireless advertisement frame from the network, and in response, transmit a reflected wireless advertisement frame having the source address of the reachable node, the destination address to which the reachable node is to be advertised, a transmitter address of the access point, and a receiver address that indicates the reflected frame is to be accepted by any appropriate receiver excluding the transmitting node.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a node in a network, a four-address wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a first source address field that indicates a reachable node being advertised,

a first destination address field that indicates a destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised,

a first transmitter address field that indicates a transmitting node from which the four-address wireless advertisement frame is received, and

a first receiver address field that indicates one or more excluded nodes which are to be excluded from accepting a reflected wireless advertisement frame; and

upon determining that the node is not one of the one or more excluded nodes, transmitting a three-address wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a second source address field that indicates the reachable node being advertised,

a second destination address field that indicates the destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised, and

a second transmitter address field that indicates the node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the four-address wireless advertisement frame contains no more than four address fields and the three-address wireless advertisement frame contains no more than three address fields.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding the node to the one or more excluded nodes to yield updated excluded nodes; and

upon determining that the node is not one of the one or more excluded nodes, further transmitting the reflected wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a third source address field that indicates the reachable node being advertised,

a third destination address field that indicates the destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised,

a third transmitter address field that indicates the node, and

a third receiver address that indicates the updated excluded nodes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the node is at least one of a wireless bridge or a wireless access point.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein upper bits of the first receiver address field are a fixed organization identifier (OID) and represent multicast addresses.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein lower bits of the first receiver address field correspond to the one or more excluded nodes.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon determining that the node is one of the one or more excluded nodes, suppressing the four-address wireless advertisement frame.

8. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via a network, a four-address wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a first source address field that indicates a reachable node being advertised,

a first destination address field that indicates a destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised,

a first transmitter address field that indicates a transmitting node from which the four-address wireless advertisement frame is received, and

a first receiver address field that indicates one or more excluded nodes which are to be excluded from accepting a reflected wireless advertisement frame; and

upon determining that the node is not one of the one or more excluded nodes, transmitting a three-address wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a second source address field that indicates the reachable node being advertised,

a second destination address field that indicates the destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised, and

a second transmitter address field that indicates the node.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the four-address wireless advertisement frame contains no more than four address fields and the three-address wireless advertisement frame contains no more than three address fields.

10. The system of claim 8, the non-transitory computer-readable medium storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:

adding the node to the one or more excluded nodes to yield updated excluded nodes; and

upon determining that the node is not one of the one or more excluded nodes, further transmitting the reflected wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a third source address field that indicates the reachable node being advertised,

a third destination address field that indicates the destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised,

a third transmitter address field that indicates the node, and

a third receiver address that indicates the updated excluded nodes.

11. The system of claim 8, the non-transitory computer-readable medium storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:

generating three-address wireless advertisement frame based on the four-address wireless advertisement frame.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein upper bits of the first receiver address field are a fixed organization identifier (OID) and represent multicast addresses.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein lower bits of the first receiver address field correspond to the one or more excluded nodes.

14. The system of claim 8, the non-transitory computer-readable medium storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:

upon determining that the node is one of the one or more excluded nodes, suppressing the four-address wireless advertisement frame.

15. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a node in a network, a four-address wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a first source address field that indicates a reachable node being advertised,

a first destination address field that indicates a destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised,

a first transmitter address field that indicates a transmitting node from which the four-address wireless advertisement frame is received, and

a first receiver address field that indicates one or more excluded nodes which are to be excluded from accepting a reflected wireless advertisement frame; and

upon determining that the node is not one of the one or more excluded nodes, transmitting a three-address wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a second source address field that indicates the reachable node being advertised,

a second destination address field that indicates the destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised, and

a second transmitter address field that indicates the node.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:

adding the node to the one or more excluded nodes to yield updated excluded nodes; and

upon determining that the node is not one of the one or more excluded nodes, further transmitting the reflected wireless advertisement frame comprising;

a third source address field that indicates the reachable node being advertised,

a third destination address field that indicates the destination to which the reachable node is to be advertised,

a third transmitter address field that indicates the node, and

a third receiver address that indicates the updated excluded nodes.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the node is at least one of a wireless bridge or a wireless access point.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein upper bits of the first receiver address field are a fixed organization identifier (OID) and represent multicast addresses.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein lower bits of the first receiver address field correspond to the one or more excluded nodes.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform further operations comprising:

upon determining that the node is one of the one or more excluded nodes, suppressing the four-address wireless advertisement frame.