Patent ID: 6282201
Filing Date: 2001-08-28
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A communication network of the type having: i) a plurality of network switches, at least some of the network switches having routing capabilities comprising a network routhing switch, each network routing switch further having a unique internet protocol (IP) address, ii) a plurality of local area networks (LANs), each LAN having at least one communicating device with a unique IP address, each LAN further connected to a corresponding network switch, and iii) a switched network connected to the plurality of network switches, said network comprising:a first subnet, comprising a set of selected network routing switches and a set of selected communication devices;means to assign a common IP address and a common medium access control (MAC) address to each network switch in said set of selected network routing switches, said common IP address being assigned as a default gateway address to each communication device in said set of selected communication devices.