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:
Jul. 28, 2009
Filed:
Sep. 07, 2004
Andrew Foss, San Jose, CA (US);
Andrew Foss, San Jose, CA (US);
F5 Networks, Inc., Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
A technique for connecting New Network Devices (NNDs) to an existing communication network. The NND caches the MAC address of an Original (or 'Old') Network Device, then gratuitously transmits Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) responses on behalf of the OND, but pointing to its own MAC address. This, in effect, allows the NND to insert itself in the path of packets originally destined for the OND. After performing its designated operations such as filtering, compression, caching, file serving, virus scanning, etc., any remaining packets can still be forwarded to the OND for further processing. In this event, the packets are forwarded by the NND to the OND as MAC layer frames using the OND's MAC address only and not its IP address. In the event that the NND fails, no special steps need to be taken, as the OND will eventually receive traffic again as it responds to further ARP requests.