Virtual private network (VPN) with channelized ethernet over sonet (EoS) interface and method
First Claim
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1. A Virtual Private Network (VPN), comprising:
- a Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network;
a plurality of Virtual Local Access Networks (VLANs) each coupled to an edge router of the shared label switching network, the VLANs each communicating traffic with a corresponding edge router utilizing channelized Ethernet over SONET (EoS); and
the edge routers interfacing the VLANs with the MPLS network, the edge routers comprising;
a transmit-side edge router operable to convert an ingress VLAN packet received from a VLAN and associated with a VPN to an MPLS packet and to send the MPLS packet to the MPLS network, wherein converting an ingress VLAN packet to an MPLS packet comprises identifying a VPN label that corresponds to a VLAN identifier (VIP) of the ingress VLAN packet and generating an MPLS packet having the VPN label; and
a receive-side edge router operable to convert an MPLS packet received from the MPLS network to an egress VLAN packet and sending the egress VLAN packet to a VLAN associated with the VPN, wherein converting the received MPLS packet to an egress VLAN packet comprises identifying a VID that corresponds to a VPN label contained in the received MPLS packet and generating a VLAN packet having the VID.
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Abstract
A VPN includes a shared label switching network, a plurality of VLANs and edge routers interfacing the VLANs with the shared label switching network. The VLANs are each coupled to an edge router and communicate traffic using channelized EoS.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A Virtual Private Network (VPN), comprising:
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a Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network; a plurality of Virtual Local Access Networks (VLANs) each coupled to an edge router of the shared label switching network, the VLANs each communicating traffic with a corresponding edge router utilizing channelized Ethernet over SONET (EoS); and the edge routers interfacing the VLANs with the MPLS network, the edge routers comprising; a transmit-side edge router operable to convert an ingress VLAN packet received from a VLAN and associated with a VPN to an MPLS packet and to send the MPLS packet to the MPLS network, wherein converting an ingress VLAN packet to an MPLS packet comprises identifying a VPN label that corresponds to a VLAN identifier (VIP) of the ingress VLAN packet and generating an MPLS packet having the VPN label; and a receive-side edge router operable to convert an MPLS packet received from the MPLS network to an egress VLAN packet and sending the egress VLAN packet to a VLAN associated with the VPN, wherein converting the received MPLS packet to an egress VLAN packet comprises identifying a VID that corresponds to a VPN label contained in the received MPLS packet and generating a VLAN packet having the VID. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An edge router of a shared label switching network, comprising:
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an Ethernet over SONIET (EoS) line card including a SONET channelization element operable to receive from a Virtual Local Access Network (VLAN) a channelized EoS signal including a plurality of Ethernet channels and to send VLAN packets received in each of the Ethernet channels to a corresponding Ethernet interface; one or more Virtual Private Network (VPN) units coupled to the Ethernet interfaces and operable to identify a VPN for the VLAN packets and to send the VLAN packets to a corresponding VPN subrouter based on the VPN; and each VPN subrouter operable to convert the VLAN packets to a label switching packet for transmission over the shared label switching network in the VPN, wherein converting a VLAN packet to a label switching packet comprises identifying a VPN label that corresponds to a VLAN identifier (VIP) of the VLAN packet and generating a label switching packet having the VPN label and a forwarding label. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
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receiving a SONET frame including a plurality of Ethernet channels, each Ethernet channel including ingress Virtual Local Access Network (VLAN) packets associated with one or more Virtual Private Networks (VPNs); determining a VPN associated with each ingress VLAN packet; and converting each ingress VLAN packet to an egress label switching packet based on the associated VPN for transmission over a shared network, wherein converting a VLAN packet to an egress label switching packet comprises identifying a VPN label that corresponds to a VLAN identifier (VID) of the VLAN packet and generating an egress label switching packet having the VPN label and a forwarding label. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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receiving a channelized Ethernet over SONET (EoS) signal comprising a plurality of Ethernet channels, each Ethernet channel including a plurality of Virtual Local Access Network (VLAN) packets; demultiplexing the Ethernet channels; determining a Virtual Private Network (VPN) associated with each VLAN packet of each Ethernet channel; and converting the VLAN packets for each Ethernet channel to label switching packets based on the associated VPN for transmission through a shared label switching network, wherein converting a VLAN packet to a label switching packet comprises identifying a VPN label that corresponds to a VLAN identifier (VID) of the VLAN packet and generating a label switching packet having the VPN label and a forwarding label. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification