The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 18, 1997
Filed:
Aug. 25, 1995
Daniel P Gregerson, Half Moon Bay, CA (US);
David R Farrell, San Francisco, CA (US);
Sunil S Gaitonde, Daly City, CA (US);
Ratinder P Ahuja, Daly City, CA (US);
Krish Ramakrishnan, Union City, CA (US);
Muhammad Shafiq, El Granada, CA (US);
Ian F Wallis, Cupertino, CA (US);
Peerlogic, Inc., San Francisco, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods for routing packets from a source node to a destination node using at least one context bridge. Each node has a routing protocol, with the context bridge being one of many context bridges in a heterogeneous network having many nodes. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of receiving a packet at the source node, and determining whether the destination node of the packet has a routable protocol. If the destination has no routable protocol, a route discovery packet is sent to discover one or more context bridges so as to automatically route the packet from the source to the destination node. Based on the discovery, the packet is routed to the destination through one or more context bridges. If the destination has a routable protocol, the packet is routed from the source to the destination using the routable protocol. In another embodiment, the method includes the steps of setting up a list of context bridges and the communication protocols handled by each context bridge in the list, and listening for routing information packets, which are periodically broadcast by other context bridges informing recipients of the communication protocols handled by the broadcasting context bridge. Based on the broadcast, the list is updated using the information contained in the received routing information packets.