Frame relay switched data service

• US 7,668,168 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Issued: 02/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Medamana, John Babu, Saksena, Vikram R., Holmgren, Stephen L., Chase, Christopher J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOM, SHICK C
• Application Number:
  US11/322,599
• Publication Number:
  US 20060104273A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,516 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/355, 370/389, 370/390, 370/391, 370/392, 370/395.5, 370/395.6, 370/466, 370/467, 370/469, 370/395.51, 370/395.52
• US Class Current: 370/392
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2854 Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4608 LAN interconnection over ATM networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5645 Connectionless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/10 Routing in connection-oriented networks, e.g. X.25 or ATM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/72 Routing based on the source address
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/741 Routing in networks with a plurality of addressing schemes, e.g. with both IPv4 and IPv6
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/105 ATM switching elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0478 Provisions for broadband connections

Abstract

A new type of data transport service which uses a frame relay layer 2 data link connection identifier (DLCI) to select among various service types, feature sets, and/or closed user groups (CUGs). A layer 3 address may be extracted from a layer 2 frame, and the layer 3 address information may be used to route a data packet over a packet-switched network according to the service classes, feature sets, and/or CUGs selected. At the destination, the layer 3 data packet may again be enclosed in a layer 2 frame with a DLCI indicating the service classes, features sets, and/or CUGs. Because the use of conventional permanent virtual circuits (PVCs) is not required in aspects of the invention, new methods of measuring and managing network traffic are presented.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving into a fast packet network, frame relay data packets, said frame relay data packets having user data in a user data field, wherein said user data comprises service category data;

means for switching said frame relay data packets within the fast packet network responsive to the user data;

means for discriminating between a plurality of service categories based on the user data;

means for selecting a virtual private network (VPN) from a plurality of VPNs based upon a data link connection identifier (DLCI); and

means for routing over said VPN selected in response to said DLCI representing at least one of the service categories.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the virtual private network comprising trading partners responsive to at least one of the service categories.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 further including means for routing over a closed user group responsive to said data link connection identifier (DLCI) representing at least one of the service categories.