Customer Bridging Domain Addressing for LAN Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing communication networks face scalability and performance issues when extending customer local area networks (LANs) outside of customer premises into private data networks, particularly due to frequent connections and disconnections of customer premises equipment (CPEs), which require efficient address management and forwarding mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
An addressing mechanism is introduced that utilizes a customer bridging domain hosted on a network gateway device, incorporating address announcement, resolution, and translation functions, assigning a unique Layer 2 address to the customer bridging domain, allowing it to represent customer devices and facilitate packet forwarding across the private data network, thereby improving scalability and performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If individual MAC addresses of customer devices are advertised across the private data network, then address resolution accuracy is improved, but network scalability deteriorates due to frequent CPE connections and disconnections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network gateway device as an intermediary between customer devices and the private data network. The gateway device performs address translation, converting individual customer device MAC addresses to a single gateway MAC address for advertisements across the private network. This mediator resolves the contradiction by maintaining address resolution accuracy through translation while improving scalability by reducing the number of MAC address advertisements.
Solution Approach 2:
The network gateway device creates a representative copy of customer device addresses in the form of a gateway MAC address. Instead of advertising actual customer device MAC addresses, the gateway advertises its own MAC address as a representation that maps to multiple customer devices. This copying mechanism allows scalable address management while maintaining resolution accuracy through the translation function.
2Measurement precision
If individual MAC addresses are used for each customer device, then communication precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to address management overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual MAC address management tasks into a single unified address translation function performed by the network gateway device. Instead of each device managing its own MAC address advertisements, the gateway consolidates this function, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining communication precision through accurate address translation between customer devices and the private network.
Solution Approach 2:
The network gateway acts as an intermediary that handles all address management complexity internally. It translates between simple gateway MAC addresses used in the private network and actual customer device MAC addresses, shielding upper-layer devices from address management complexity while maintaining precise communication through accurate translation.
3Loss of information
If MAC address advertisements are propagated across the private data network, then address resolution completeness is improved, but network performance deteriorates due to frequent updates from connecting and disconnecting CPEs
Solution Approach 1:
The network gateway device serves as an intermediary that consolidates address resolution information. Instead of propagating individual MAC address updates from each customer device, the gateway maintains a single representative MAC address that represents all customer devices. This eliminates the performance degradation caused by frequent MAC address updates while maintaining complete address resolution through the translation function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple individual MAC address advertisement streams into a single consolidated address representation at the network gateway. By combining address resolution information from multiple customer devices into one gateway MAC address advertisement, the system maintains complete address resolution capability while eliminating the performance impact of processing multiple frequent updates.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure generally discloses an addressing mechanism adapted for extending a customer local area network of a customer premises of a customer outside of the customer premises and into a private data network with improved scalability and performance. The extension of a local area network of a customer premises of a customer outside of the customer premises and into a private data network may be provided using a customer bridge associated with the customer local area network of the customer, a customer bridging domain hosted on a network gateway device for the customer, and a switching element hosted in the private data network for the customer for one or more customer components hosted within the private data network for the customer. The addressing mechanism may include one or more of address announcement functions, address resolution functions, address translation functions, or the like, as well as various combinations thereof.