Method and system for virtual network administration with a data-over cable system

Abstract

A method and system for virtual network administration with a data-over-cable system. A virtual networking tag and a network address (e.g., an Internet Protocol address) assigned by a network other than a data-over-cable system is used to provide a virtual network to one or more network devices, such as cable modems via a data-over-cable system. The virtual networking tag may also be used to request a desired service class (e.g., Class-of-Service, Quality-of-Service, Type-of-Service, Service Level Agreements, etc.), for a desired end-to-end networking service (e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol). The virtual networking tag can be mapped to a data-over-cable service class. The data-over-cable service class can be mapped into a transport service class for a transport network. The virtual networking tag is used to provide a desired end-to-end networking service from a network device on a first external network (e.g., an Ethernet Local Area Network), through the data-over-cable system, through a transport network (e.g., Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, Asynchronous Transfer Mode, Frame Relay, Integrated Services Digital Network, Synchronous Optical Network, Voice over Internet Protocol, etc.) and to a second external network (e.g., another Ethernet Local Area Network). The method and system are used to provide a variety of networking services via and through a data-over-cable system.