Patent ID: 7970929
Filing Date: 2011-06-28
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A communication network having multiple domains, comprising: a network of interconnected nodes that communicate using the Open System Interconnect (“OSI”) model, which includes a media access controller (“MAC”) layer; an independent identification layer independent of the MAC layer, wherein said independent identification layer is beneath or above the layer set forth by the OSI model; a first end module and a second end module connected to each other at different domains by the network, wherein the first and second end modules each have a unique identification number in said independent identification layer independent of the MAC layer and independent of the IP address; at least one host, connectable to either end module; wherein the network comprises a plurality of interconnected intermediate modules, each bearing an intermediate module identification number in said independent layer that is dependent on its location within the network, and each of which perform only a portion of a distributed routing operation that extends across the network; and a mapping table within the second end module that corresponds to the unique identification number in said independent layer of the second end module with an address of a host in said independent layer removed from the first end module and coupled to the second end module, wherein said host address does not change when said host is removed from the first end module and coupled to the second end module, and said host address is at a layer above or below the layer set forth in the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model for said unique identification number of the second end module; wherein a packet of data is deterministically routed to said host through a module based at least in part on said unique identification number.