Heterogeneous media packet bridging
First Claim
1. A network-computing device comprising:
- a plurality of network interfaces (netmods), including a first set of netmods operable to receive network packets encapsulated within a first plurality of media transmissions each having a first framing media format of a plurality of framing media formats and a second set of netmods operable to transmit network packets encapsulated within a second plurality of media transmissions each having a second framing media format of the plurality of framing media formats;
a plurality of processing resources coupled to the plurality of netmods and shared by the plurality of netmods, including a first processing resource upon which a virtual bridging application executes, the virtual bridging application representing a single bridging domain for all network packets received by the network-computing device;
a non-transitory memory, accessible to the first processing resource, having stored therein one or more translation data structures defining translations between the first framing media format and an intermediate format and between the intermediate format and the second framing media format;
wherein responsive to receiving a network packet, the first set of netmods pass the network packet to the virtual bridging application;
the virtual bridging application determines a relay location to which the network packet is to be relayed and whether the relay location is among the second set of netmods, which are associated with a disparate framing media format and a disparate media channel than that of the first set of netmods;
responsive to an affirmative determination that the relay location is among the second set of netmods, the virtual bridging application uses the one or more translation data structures to translate the network packet to the second framing media format before relaying the network packet to the relay location.
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Abstract
Methods and systems for bridging network packets transmitted over heterogeneous media channels are provided. According to one embodiment, a network-computing device comprises multiple network interfaces (netmods) and a shared processing resource. The shared processing resource executes a virtual bridging application representing a single bridging domain for all network packets received by the network-computing device. A translation data structure defines translations between a first framing media format and an intermediate format and between the intermediate format and a second framing media format. If the virtual bridging application determines a network packet is to be relayed between a netmod operable to receive network packets encapsulated within the first framing media format and a netmod operable to transmit network packets encapsulated within the second framing media format, then it uses the translation data structures to translate the network packet before relaying the network packet.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A network-computing device comprising:
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a plurality of network interfaces (netmods), including a first set of netmods operable to receive network packets encapsulated within a first plurality of media transmissions each having a first framing media format of a plurality of framing media formats and a second set of netmods operable to transmit network packets encapsulated within a second plurality of media transmissions each having a second framing media format of the plurality of framing media formats; a plurality of processing resources coupled to the plurality of netmods and shared by the plurality of netmods, including a first processing resource upon which a virtual bridging application executes, the virtual bridging application representing a single bridging domain for all network packets received by the network-computing device; a non-transitory memory, accessible to the first processing resource, having stored therein one or more translation data structures defining translations between the first framing media format and an intermediate format and between the intermediate format and the second framing media format; wherein responsive to receiving a network packet, the first set of netmods pass the network packet to the virtual bridging application; the virtual bridging application determines a relay location to which the network packet is to be relayed and whether the relay location is among the second set of netmods, which are associated with a disparate framing media format and a disparate media channel than that of the first set of netmods; responsive to an affirmative determination that the relay location is among the second set of netmods, the virtual bridging application uses the one or more translation data structures to translate the network packet to the second framing media format before relaying the network packet to the relay location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification