Nortel Networks Corporation

Ciena Corporation

Rockstar Consortium US LP

Robert Pluim

Geoffrey Mattson

Marcel Wiget

Simon Bryden

Michael Tate

Simon David Blyden

Simon David Bryden

A Multicast-Enabled Address Resolution Protocol (ME-ARP) is disclosed. This ME-ARP allows the building of independent IP based Virtual Private LAN segments (VPLS) over a multicast enabled IP backbone using stateless tunnels and optimal VPLS traffic forwarding. Each VPLS has an associated IP subnet which is completely independent from other VPLS or the underlying IP backbone itself. Each Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) device needs only to be configured with a VPLS identifier and its serving IP subnet per VPLS designated interface.

Multicast-enabled address resolution protocol (ME-ARP)

Multi-case enabled address resolution protocol

A platform is connected over a synchronous network using a GFP encapsulation scheme to a provider device having a first Ethernet interface with a customer device, said platform being arranged for exchanging tagged frames including a virtual LAN identifier (VID) with a service unit over a second Ethernet interface. If an error condition is detected at a GFP port of the platform, a correspondence is retrieved between said GFP port and a VID and a deregistration message including said VID is forwarded to the service unit. If an error condition is detected at the second Ethernet interface responsive to reception of a deregistration message including a VID from the service unit, a correspondence is retrieved between said VID and a GFP port and said deregistration message is forwarded through said GFP port to the provider device in a GFP error message. When several Ethernet interfaces concentrated by a bridge face the provider device, another VID is taken into account in the correspondence retrieving.

Signaling methods for telecommunicaton system for exchanging frames over ethernet interfaces and devices for implementing such methods

Multi-cast enabled address resolution protocol (ME-ARP)

A system, device, and method for allocating virtual circuits in a communication network allocates a virtual circuit for a particular device, establishes a tunnel for communicating with a second device, and maps the virtual circuit to the tunnel based upon an address resolution request received over either the virtual circuit or the tunnel. Protocol messages received over the virtual circuit are forwarded over the corresponding tunnel. Protocol messages received over the tunnal are forwarded over the corresponding virtual circuit.

System, device, and method for allocating virtual circuits in a communication network

Growing community of inventors

Golfe Juan, France

Robert Pluim