Secure VLANs
US9660829B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 4, 2008 |
| Grant date | May 23, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 12, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L63/20
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A VLAN is implemented with a logical hub and spoke topology that obviates local switching. Member devices are connected to a hub device such as a router via intermediate devices such as Layer 2 switches that support individual IP subnets within the VLAN. The Layer 2 switch does not allow bridging, so there is no IP subnet broadcast domain. Further, the Layer 2 switch implements only a single logical broadcast uplink port which is connected to the router. The Layer 2 switch also implements only point-to-point downlink ports, i.e., to individual member devices. Consequently, all traffic is forced to flow through the router, e.g., broadcast traffic, multicast traffic and traffic of unknown destination received by the Layer 2 switch from a member device is only flooded to the router, and the router performs intra-subnet routing in addition to routing between subnets and between VLANs. The router subjects all traffic to security measures and provide services including packet inspection, firewall, policing, metering, accounting, anti-virus, marking, filtering and encryption, and thereby reduce or eliminate the drawbacks associated with local switching.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.