Patent · US Expired

Methods and apparatus for switching between Metro Ethernet networks and external networks

US7633937B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
5References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 19, 2003
Grant dateDec 15, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 2, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L49/354
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

According to the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided to allow efficient switching of frames for transmission between a Layer 2 Virtual Local Area Network such as a Metro Ethernet Network and an external network. Reserved inner tags are used to identify particular services. In one example, inner tags allow mapping of frames associated with a particular subnetwork onto a particular virtual circuit associated with an ATM network.

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