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:
Dec. 02, 2014
Filed:
May. 02, 2006
Michael R. Smith, San Jose, CA (US);
Gyaneshwar S. Saharia, Cupertino, CA (US);
Gaetano Borgione, San Jose, CA (US);
Atul Rawat, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael R. Smith, San Jose, CA (US);
Gyaneshwar S. Saharia, Cupertino, CA (US);
Gaetano Borgione, San Jose, CA (US);
Atul Rawat, San Jose, CA (US);
Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Disclosed are, inter alia, methods, apparatus, data structures, computer-readable media, mechanisms, and means for supporting a large number of virtual local area networks (VLANS) in a bridged network. Packets are received that include 802.1Q Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs). However, rather than accessing the VLAN forwarding information directly based on the VID as conventionally performed, the VLAN forwarding information to use for a particular packet is determined based on an interface (e.g., virtual or physical interface, port, MPLS label, GRE tunnel or other abstraction of the interface). In other words, the interface associated with the packet identifies a context for determining the VLAN forwarding information based on the VID included in the packet. Therefore, network bridging devices can support more VLANs than that imposed by the 4096 possible values of a VID.