Method and device address management
First Claim
1. A method of Address Management in a network which comprises a plurality of devices, comprising at least one STAtion (STA), and at least one Address Resource Management (ARM) unit, wherein each of the devices includes a stack of communication protocol layers comprising at least an Upper network or data link Layer (UL) and a Lower data link Layer (LL), the UL of each of the devices having a respective UL address within the network, the method comprising:
- associating, respectively disassociating, at least one device in at least one LL network, which device being allowed to exchange together data packets emitted and received at the LL level, the associating including the device sending a UL address to the ARM unit;
allocating, respectively releasing, one given LL address per UL address of each one of the at least one device which is associated, respectively disassociated, in a given LL network, the allocating being carried out by the ARM unit; and
handling one ARM Translation Table (TT) per LL network, the TT comprising one entry per device of a given LL network, which entry comprising the UL address and the LL address, the handling being carried out by the ARM unit,wherein the device associated in a given LL network performs address conversion between an LL address and a UL address through an Address Management protocol defining messages exchanged with the corresponding at least one ARM unit,wherein the Address Management protocol comprises the following messages;
a Lower Layer Address Request (LLAR) message sent by any device to the ARM unit, the LLAR message comprising a specified UL address in order to request the corresponding LL address;
an Upper Layer Address Request (ULAR) message sent by any device to the ARM unit, the ULAR message comprising a specified LL address in order to request the corresponding UL address; and
an Address Relation Indication (ARI) message broadcast to all associated devices of the LL network to manage advertising of an LL-UL address couple by the ARM unit;
in response to either the LLAR message or the ULAR message, the ARI message comprising the UL address and the LL address, respectively sent or requested via the LLAR message or the ULAR message; and
each time a device is associated or disassociated.
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Abstract
A method and a device of address management in a network which comprises a plurality of devices, including at least one STAtion (STA), and at least one Address Resource Management (ARM) unit. Each of the devices includes a stack of communication protocol layers comprising at least an Upper Layer (UL) and a Lower Layer (LL). The UL of each of the devices has a respective UL address within the network. The ARM unit associates, respectively disassociates, some of the devices in at least one LL network. The devices of a given LL network are allowed to exchange together data packets emitted and received at the LL level. The ARM unit allocates, respectively releases, one given LL address per each associated device, respectively disassociated device, in a given LL network. Besides, the ARM unit handles one ARM Translation Table (TT) per LL network. The TT comprises one entry per device of a given LL network and each entry comprises the UL address and the LL address.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method of Address Management in a network which comprises a plurality of devices, comprising at least one STAtion (STA), and at least one Address Resource Management (ARM) unit, wherein each of the devices includes a stack of communication protocol layers comprising at least an Upper network or data link Layer (UL) and a Lower data link Layer (LL), the UL of each of the devices having a respective UL address within the network, the method comprising:
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associating, respectively disassociating, at least one device in at least one LL network, which device being allowed to exchange together data packets emitted and received at the LL level, the associating including the device sending a UL address to the ARM unit; allocating, respectively releasing, one given LL address per UL address of each one of the at least one device which is associated, respectively disassociated, in a given LL network, the allocating being carried out by the ARM unit; and handling one ARM Translation Table (TT) per LL network, the TT comprising one entry per device of a given LL network, which entry comprising the UL address and the LL address, the handling being carried out by the ARM unit, wherein the device associated in a given LL network performs address conversion between an LL address and a UL address through an Address Management protocol defining messages exchanged with the corresponding at least one ARM unit, wherein the Address Management protocol comprises the following messages; a Lower Layer Address Request (LLAR) message sent by any device to the ARM unit, the LLAR message comprising a specified UL address in order to request the corresponding LL address; an Upper Layer Address Request (ULAR) message sent by any device to the ARM unit, the ULAR message comprising a specified LL address in order to request the corresponding UL address; and an Address Relation Indication (ARI) message broadcast to all associated devices of the LL network to manage advertising of an LL-UL address couple by the ARM unit; in response to either the LLAR message or the ULAR message, the ARI message comprising the UL address and the LL address, respectively sent or requested via the LLAR message or the ULAR message; and each time a device is associated or disassociated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification