Patent ID: 8325732
Filing Date: 2012-12-04
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. In a network comprising a first autonomous domain connected to a second autonomous domain via at least a border gateway (BG) in the first autonomous domain, at least the second domain being a Provider Ethernet domain including an Access Gateway (AG) hosting a remote customer site in the second domain, a system for enabling extension of a network service of the first autonomous domain to the remote customer site in the second autonomous domain, the system comprising; a trunk connection instantiated through the second autonomous domain between the host AG and the BG; and a trunk cross-connection function installed in the host AG, the trunk cross-connection function transferring subscriber packets associated with the network service between a respective attachment virtual circuit (AVC) through which the remote customer site is connected to the host AG and an extended AVC tunnelled through the trunk connection; wherein the BG is controlled to emulate an AG hosting the remote customer site in the first autonomous domain, such that, in the first autonomous domain, subscriber packets associated with the network service are forwarded to or from the remote customer site via the BG; and wherein a common service instance identifier (I-SID) is used to identify both the AVC between the host AG and the remote customer site and the extended AVC between the host AG and the BG.