System and method for translucent bridging
First Claim
1. A network bridge, comprising:
- a local network interface configured to transmit and receive local signals in a local network according to a local network protocol;
a bridging network interface configured to transmit and receive bridging signals in a bridging network according to a bridging network protocol;
a control circuit connected between the local network interface and the bridging network interface, configured to pass outgoing local data packets from the local network as outgoing bridging payloads in outgoing bridging data packets to the bridging network and to pass incoming bridging payloads from incoming bridging data packets from the bridging network as incoming local packets to the local network; and
an address translation circuit configured to provide the control circuit with address translation data identifying a correspondence between local network addresses in the local network and global network addresses,wherein the control circuit translates outgoing local addresses of the outgoing local data packets to outgoing global addresses based on the address translation data,wherein the control circuit translates incoming global addresses of the incoming local data packets to incoming local addresses based on the address translation data,wherein the network bridge functions as one of a plurality of network elements in the local network, and has a unique local network address,wherein the local network addresses are ad hoc addresses, andwherein the local network protocol is configured to periodically change an assignment of the local network addresses to the plurality of local network elements in the local network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network bridge (160) is provided, comprising: a local interface (320) configured to transmit and receive local signals in a local network (305); a bridging interface (325) configured to transmit and receive bridging signals in a bridging network (310); a control circuit (330) configured to pass outgoing local data packets from the local network to the bridging network and to pass incoming bridging payloads from the bridging network to the local network; and an address translation circuit (340) configured to provide the control circuit with address translation data identifying a correspondence between local packet addresses and global packet addresses. The control circuit translates outgoing local addresses to outgoing global addresses (460), and the control circuit translates incoming global addresses to incoming local addresses (560), based on the address translation data.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A network bridge, comprising:
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a local network interface configured to transmit and receive local signals in a local network according to a local network protocol; a bridging network interface configured to transmit and receive bridging signals in a bridging network according to a bridging network protocol; a control circuit connected between the local network interface and the bridging network interface, configured to pass outgoing local data packets from the local network as outgoing bridging payloads in outgoing bridging data packets to the bridging network and to pass incoming bridging payloads from incoming bridging data packets from the bridging network as incoming local packets to the local network; and an address translation circuit configured to provide the control circuit with address translation data identifying a correspondence between local network addresses in the local network and global network addresses, wherein the control circuit translates outgoing local addresses of the outgoing local data packets to outgoing global addresses based on the address translation data, wherein the control circuit translates incoming global addresses of the incoming local data packets to incoming local addresses based on the address translation data, wherein the network bridge functions as one of a plurality of network elements in the local network, and has a unique local network address, wherein the local network addresses are ad hoc addresses, and wherein the local network protocol is configured to periodically change an assignment of the local network addresses to the plurality of local network elements in the local network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of processing a local data packet from a local network through a network bridge, comprising:
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receiving the local data packet at the network bridge on a local medium, the local data packet including a local identifier and a local payload; determining whether a destination device identified by the local identifier is a local destination device in the local network, is the network bridge, or is a known remote device that is not in the local network; sending the local data packet over the local medium if the local identifier identifies the local destination device; processing the local data packet in the network bridge if the destination device identified by the local identifier is the network bridge; translating the local identifier to a global identifier if the local identifier identifies a destination device selected from one or more known devices that are not in the local network; forming a bridging packet including a local data packet as a bridging payload after translating the local identifier; sending the bridging packet over a bridging medium after forming the bridging packet; discarding the local data packet if the destination device identified by the local identifier is not a local destination device in the local network, is not a known remote device that is not in the local network, and is not the network bridge, and periodically changing an assignment of the local identifiers to the local device, the network device, and the known remote device, wherein the local identifiers are ad hoc identifiers. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification