Patent ID: 6041063
Filing Date: 2000-03-21
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
Apparatus for providing local area network (LAN) emulated communication between an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network and a host, said apparatus comprising:a plurality of network interface cards each of which has a port connected in communicating relationship with said ATM network, each of said cards having an associated LAN emulation client (LEC), and a single, common media access control (MAC) address assigned to said host; anda controller for directing communications between said LECs and a simulated MAC entity associated with said host, said controller operable to dynamically select one or more of said LECs for receiving frames from said ATM network, filtering frames received by said LECs so as to prevent duplicate frames from being passed to said simulated MAC entity, and causing frames received from said simulated MAC entity to be passed to one or more selected LECs for transmission to said ATM network.