Patent · US Active

Virtual switching using a provisional identifier to conceal a user identifier

US7961728B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
12References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 23, 2009
Grant dateJun 14, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 23, 2029

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L49/505
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

This document describes tools useful in relaying a data stream from a data device to a network tunnel, such as by enabling virtual switching using a provisional identifier to conceal a user identifier. These tools, for example, may use an inexpensive switch module to create virtual switch instances. To do so, the tools may assign data packets to a virtual switch instance by mapping the data packets to a particular provisional identifier and then modifying the data packets to include the provisional identifier. The switch module may then forward the data packets based on the provisional identifier rather than on the user identifier. The tools may remove the provisional identifier before forwarding the data packets to a destination.

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