Method and apparatus for obtaining routing information on demand in a virtual private network
US7590074B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 2, 2004 |
| Grant date | Sep 15, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 27, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2212/00
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Routing information may be provided to VPN sites on demand to allow smaller VPN sites with smaller routing tables to communicate directly with other VPN sites. This allows the meshed VPN architecture to scale to a size larger than where each VPN site is required to store routing information for all other VPN sites. A route server is instantiated on the network, optionally in connection with a Group Controller Key Server, to manage distribution of routes on the network and to provide routes to VPN sites on demand. As routes are learned by the VPN sites they are advertised to the route server, which selectively advertises the routes to other VPN sites depending on the per-site preferences. When a VPN site needs routing information to communicate with another VPN site, the network element will check its routing table for the route, and if the route is not available, will obtain the route on-demand from the route server.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.