Method and system of aggregate multiple VLANs in a metropolitan area network
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a metropolitan area network (MAN);
a first virtual local area network (VLAN);
a second VLAN, wherein the second VLAN subsumes the first VLAN;
a first switch coupled to the first and second VLANs, the first switch to receive from the first VLAN a data packet having a first VLAN ID associated with the first VLAN, to replace the first VLAN ID with a second VLAN ID associated with the second VLAN, and to forward the modified data packet to the second VLAN; and
a second switch coupled to the MAN and the second VLAN, the second switch to receive from the second VLAN the modified data packet and to forward the modified data packet to the MAN.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system is provided in which data packets from multiple customer VLANs are forwarded over a MAN using VLAN aggregation. A layer-2 switch located at the edge of the MAN connects the customer VLANs to the MAN. The edge switch aggregates multiple customer VLANs (the “sub-VLANs”) into one provider VLAN (the “super-VLAN”). When a packet is forwarded from the sub-VLAN to the super-VLAN and vice versa, the edge switch uses modified bridge forwarding rules to exchange the customer-configured VLAN-IDs with the provider-configured VLAN-IDs before transporting the packet over the MAN. The edge switch further uses modified bridge media access control (MAC) address learning rules to isolate one customer'"'"'s traffic from another'"'"'s (i.e. isolate one sub-VLAN'"'"'s traffic from another sub-VLAN'"'"'s traffic).
183 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a metropolitan area network (MAN);
a first virtual local area network (VLAN);
a second VLAN, wherein the second VLAN subsumes the first VLAN;
a first switch coupled to the first and second VLANs, the first switch to receive from the first VLAN a data packet having a first VLAN ID associated with the first VLAN, to replace the first VLAN ID with a second VLAN ID associated with the second VLAN, and to forward the modified data packet to the second VLAN; and
a second switch coupled to the MAN and the second VLAN, the second switch to receive from the second VLAN the modified data packet and to forward the modified data packet to the MAN. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method comprising:
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receiving a data packet from a first virtual local area network (VLAN) at a first switch coupled to the first VLAN and a second VLAN, wherein the second VLAN subsumes the first VLAN;
verifying a first VLAN ID in the data packet, wherein the first VLAN ID is associated with the first VLAN;
replacing the first VLAN ID with a second VLAN ID associated with the second VLAN; and
forwarding the modified data packet from the second VLAN to a metropolitan area network (MAN) via a second switch. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An article of manufacture comprising:
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a machine accessible medium including content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to receive a data packet from a first virtual local area network (VLAN) at a first switch coupled to the first VLAN and a second VLAN,wherein the second VLAN subsumes the first VLAN;
verify a first VLAN ID in the data packet, wherein the first VLAN ID is associated with the first VLAN;
replace the first VLAN ID with a second VLAN ID associated with the second VLAN; and
forward the modified data packet to a metropolitan area network (MAN) via a second switch. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A switch comprising:
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a port for receiving a data packet from a first virtual local area network (VLAN);
an assigner to assign a first VLAN ID to the data packet that identifies the first VLAN;
a verifier to verify that the assigned first VLAN ID matches a value stored in a memory of the switch;
a controller to control the processing of the verified data packet and to replace the verified first VLAN ID with a second VLAN ID that identifies a second VLAN, wherein the second VLAN subsumes the first VLAN; and
a forwarder to forward the modified data packet to a metropolitan area network (MAN). - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification