Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for bridging between networks

US6747979B1 · kind B1 · utility

48Cited by
6References
29Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 27, 1999
Grant dateJun 8, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 27, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L69/169
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A network layer bridge includes: plurality of ports for connection to different network segments, a first port and a second port for connection to respective first and second network segments; a memory for storing network layer addresses for nodes with corresponding port identifiers and data link layer addresses, and data link layer addresses of more than one type; and a unit for discovering corresponding port identifier and data link layer address for a network layer address. The bridge forwards a message from a first node to a second node when corresponding port identifiers and data link level addresses for both first and second nodes are stored in the memory; the message being addressed with the network layer address of the second node, and the network layer bridge directing the message through the corresponding port to the corresponding data link level address for the second node.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.