Patent US6356563B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
US6356563B1 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Global addressing and identifier assignment in inter-worked networks

Assignee: AT&T Inc
•
Filing: 1998-12-29
•
Granted: 2002-03-12
•
Expires: 2018-12-29
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract Global address assignment of sites within an interworked network is presented. Each site is assigned a global address that is unique within the interworked network, irrespective of the network protocol of the site. For example, in a Frame Relay (FR)—Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) interworked network, each FR and ATM site may be assigned both an FR Data Link Connection Identifier (DLCI), as well as a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) and/or a Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI), wherein the combination of identifiers assigned is unique for each site, regardless of whether the site is an ATM site or an FR site. Several exemplary assignment processes are presented that are appropriate for various network configurations and that attempt to provide maximally unique global addresses. During the assignment process, which may be partially or fully automated, collisions may be removable manually and/or automatically by identifying them and making a reassignment that avoids the collision.

Inventors

  • 👤 Peter R. Nicoll
  • 👤 John L. Pedersen

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-04 18:16
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L61/00; H04L61/50; H04L61/5007; H04L61/5014; G; G10; G10L; G10L19/00; G10L19/018; H04L12/00; H04L12/28; H04L12/46; H04L12/4604; H04L12/4608; H04N; H04N19/00; H04N19/10; H04N19/134; H04N19/146; H04N19/147; H04N19/189; H04N19/19; H04N19/46; H04N19/467; H04N19/90; H04N21/00; H04N21/20; H04N21/23; H04N21/238; H04N21/2389; H04N21/23892; H04N21/80; H04N21/83; H04N21/835; H04N21/8358; H04L2101/00; H04L2101/60; H04L2101/618; H04L2101/622

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 130 words
A method comprising the steps of: assigning a first address of a first network protocol to each of a first plurality of sites of a first network and to each of a second plurality of sites of a second network interworked with the first network, the first network conforming to the first network protocol and the second network conforming to a second network protocol different from the first network protocol; and assigning a second address of the second network protocol to each of the first plurality of sites and to each of the second plurality of sites, wherein a combination of the first and second addresses assigned to each of the first and second plurality of sites is globally unique to each of the first and second plurality of sites.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 130 words
A method comprising the steps of: assigning a first address of a first network protocol to each of a first plurality of sites of a first network and to each of a second plurality of sites of a second network interworked with the first network, the first network conforming to the first network protocol and the second network conforming to a second network protocol different from the first network protocol; and assigning a second address of the second network protocol to each of the first plurality of sites and to each of the second plurality of sites, wherein a combination of the first and second addresses assigned to each of the first and second plurality of sites is globally unique to each of the first and second plurality of sites.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 57 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of assigning the second address further includes the step of assigning the second address of the second protocol type such that, for each of the first plurality of sites and each of the second plurality of sites, the second address is equal in value to the first address.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 57 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of assigning the second address further includes the step of assigning the second address of the second protocol type such that, for each of the first plurality of sites and each of the second plurality of sites, the second address is different in value to the first address.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 40 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of assigning the first addresses further includes assigning the first addresses as permanent addresses, and the step of assigning the second address further includes assigning the second addresses as permanent addresses.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 17 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and network protocol is a local network protocol.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first address assigned to each of the first and second plurality of sites is globally unique to each of the first and second plurality of sites.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network protocol is Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and the second work protocol is Frame Relay (FR).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 47 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein each of the first addresses is a value of at least one of an ATM Virtual Path Identifier and an ATM Virtual Channel Identifier, and each of the second addresses is a value of an FR Data Link Connection Identifier.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 40 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein the interworked first and second networks comprise a hub-and-spoke network, the first plurality of sites are each an ATM hub site, and the second plurality of sites are each a remote FR site.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 75 words
The method of claim 1 , further including the step of determining a subset of the second plurality of sites, the subset comprising those of the second plurality of sites having a connection to another of the second plurality of sites, the step of assigning the second addresses further including assigning the second addresses such that each of the second addresses assigned to each of the sites within the subset is unique within the subset.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US5440547A Cited
US5490141A Cited
US5751971A Cited
US6188689B1 Cited
US6094419A Cited
US6185223B1 Cited
US6188671B1 Cited
US6144669A Cited
US6205152B1 Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2005-03-11 2005-09-10 2006-03-12 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2009-03-11 2009-09-10 2010-03-12 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2013-03-11 2013-09-10 2014-03-12 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag