Shared media communications in a virtual connection network
DCFirst Claim
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1. A local area network (LAN) type group of data, comprising:
- a reserved value that indicates a virtual connection to be used for communicating data to network elements for use by the network elements, wherein the network elements provide at least one of switching and transport functions;
a source media access control (MAC) address of a source network element;
a destination MAC address of a destination network element; and
payload data.
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Abstract
A local area network (LAN) type group of data comprising a reserved value, a source media access control (MAC) address, and a destination MAC address. The source MAC address corresponds to a network element that originates the LAN type group of data. The destination MAC address uniquely corresponds to one or more network elements designated to receive the LAN type group of data.
36 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A local area network (LAN) type group of data, comprising:
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a reserved value that indicates a virtual connection to be used for communicating data to network elements for use by the network elements, wherein the network elements provide at least one of switching and transport functions;
a source media access control (MAC) address of a source network element;
a destination MAC address of a destination network element; and
payload data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An local area network (LAN) type group of data, comprising:
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a reserved value that indicates a virtual connection to be used for LAN type communications among network elements that provide at least one of switching and transport functions;
a source media access control (MAC) address;
a destination MAC address;
payload data; and
wherein the LAN type group of data is an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell, and the source and destination MAC addresses are stored in nibbles designated for use by a virtual channel indicator. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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7. An Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cell, comprising:
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a first octet including first and second nibbles respectively containing first and second portions of a reserved virtual path indicator;
a second octet including third and fourth nibbles, wherein the third nibble contains a third portion of the reserved virtual path indicator, and the fourth nibble contains a first portion of a source media access control (MAC) address;
a third octet including fifth and sixth nibbles, wherein the fifth nibble contains a second portion of a source MAC address, and the sixth nibble contains a first portion of a destination MAC address;
a fourth octet including a seventh nibble containing a second portion of a destination MAC address; and
forty eight octets containing a cell payload. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A virtual connection network, comprising;
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a plurality of network elements that each provide at least one of switching and transport functions;
a policing network element that terminates a local area network (LAN) type group of data with a corrupted media access address of one of the plurality of network elements; and
transmission media coupling the plurality of network elements and policing network element to one another.
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13. A method of operating a virtual connection network, comprising:
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disassembling a large group of data into local area network (LAN) type groups of data including source and destination media access control (MAC) addresses and reserved identifiers for communicating data to network elements for use by the network elements, wherein the network elements provide at least one of switching and transport functions;
propagating the LAN type groups of data from a first network element of the source MAC address, to a second network element of the destination MAC address; and
reassembling the large group of data from the LAN type groups of data in the second network element. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of automatically configuring a virtual connection network, comprising:
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adding a new network element to the virtual connection network including a plurality of network elements and wherein the network elements each provide at least one of switching and transport functions; and
broadcasting at least one local area network (LAN) type group of data, containing the new network element'"'"'s media access control (MAC) address, from the new network element to the plurality of network elements.
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23. A method of obtaining the media access control (MAC) address of a network element (NE) that provides at least one of switching and transport functions in a virtual connection network, comprising:
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broadcasting at least one group of data that forms an Internet Protocol (IP) packet and contains the IP address of a destination NE;
receiving the at least one group of data at the destination NE;
sending the MAC address in at least one group of data from the destination NE to the source NE; and
sending data in local area network (LAN) type groups of data to the destination NE. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method for managing a virtual connection network, the method comprising:
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generating management data for at least one network element of the virtual connection network, wherein the network elements each provide at least one of switching and transport functions;
generating at least one packet containing the management data and an identifier that identifies a virtual connection for communicating the management data to the at least one network element;
transmitting the at least one packet to the at least one network element over the virtual connection network; and
terminating the packet at the at Least one network element. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
determining whether the packet contains management data; and
when the packet contains management data and a media access control (MAC) address corresponds to the network element, copying and forwarding the packet.
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29. The method of claim 25, wherein generating at least one packet comprises generating a plurality of packets.
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30. The method of claim 29, and further comprising:
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receiving the plurality of packets at the at least one network element;
combining the management data from the plurality of packets based on a source MAC address.
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31. A virtual connection network, comprising:
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a plurality of network elements coupled to form a ring, wherein the plurality of network elements each provide at least one of switching and transport functions;
wherein each network element includes a media access (MAC) address; and
a virtual connection dedicated to transmitting packets including management data to the network elements, for use by the network elements, based on the MAC addresses of each of the network elements. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification