Patent ID: 7720031
Filing Date: 2010-05-18
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of supporting portable device mobility for layer 2 and layer 3 packets across multiple wireless access points and connection support servers on a campus, without losing session connectivity, the method including: establishing a client session between a client machine and a first connection support server at a first access point on an original VLAN, including identification of the client machine by MAC address and IP address; publishing the existence of the client session with the first connection support server to a second connection support server; wherein the connection support servers are on devices that are separate from the client machine; recognizing at the second connection support server, in a manner transparent to the client machine, that the client machine has moved its wireless connection from the first access point coupled in communication with the first connection support server to a second access point on a new VLAN coupled in communication with the second connection support server, wherein the new VLAN is different from the original VLAN; processing packets at the first or second connection support server to modify packet headers to correspond to the new VLAN to which the client machine is connected, including: tunneling the modified packets between the first and second connection support servers for forwarding, without changing the IP address assigned to the client machine.