Patent ID: 7496688
Filing Date: 2009-02-24
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for determining a kind of an encapsulated data unit included in a message body of a data unit comprising: receiving a data unit: checking to learn whether the data unit is a Multi-Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) data unit, including examining a type field in a header of the data unit; when the data unit is a Multi-Protocol Label Switched (MPLS) data unit, determining a kind of an encapsulated data unit included in a message body of the data unit, including evaluating in parallel whether the encapsulated data unit has Internet Protocol version 4 specific data, Internet Protocol version 6 specific data, an Internet Packet eXchange specific data, Sub-Network Access Protocol specific data, and Ethernet specific data to determine the kind of the encapsulated data unit; extracting pertinent information from the encapsulated data unit, the pertinent information based on the kind of the encapsulated data unit; and analyzing network traffic based on the kind of encapsulated data unit and the pertinent information.