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:
Oct. 08, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 10, 1995
Eric Charles Broockman, Raleigh, NC (US);
David Barrett Bryant, Raleigh, NC (US);
Lap Thiet Huynh, Raleigh, NC (US);
Joseph L. McKinnon, Raleigh, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The method and apparatus of the present invention may be utilized to interconnect multiple local area networks to a data processing network including both multiple network nodes having routing and functional capability within the data processing network and multiple endpoint nodes having only local address capability, while minimizing the amount of routing information which must be maintained within the data processing network. A concentrator node is established for interconnection between each of the multiple local area networks and the data processing network. The concentrator node includes a network node interface having routing and functional capability for an associated local area network and an endpoint node interface having local address capability. When interconnected between a local area network and a selected network node within the data processing network, the concentrator node emulates a network node within the local area network while appearing as an endpoint node within the data processing network. The concentrator node maintains routing information for communication between the local area network and the data processing network in two segments. The first segment details the route between the local area network and the concentrator node while a second segment details the route between the concentrator node and a node within the data processing network.