Patent ID: 8711883
Filing Date: 2014-04-29
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of reducing the bandwidth required to send a plurality of client traffic frames over a plurality of carrier communications networks, each carrier network being arranged to provide a carrier service to said client traffic frames, each client traffic frame comprising client header information and client payload, at least a part of the header information of a frame being usable by a node of a carrier network for forwarding that frame in that carrier network, the method comprising at an ingress node of a second carrier network: receiving a frame of client traffic from a first carrier network said frame haying been forwarded in the first carrier network using header information; determining first compression information is present in said frame which has replaced original header information not used for forwarding said frames in said first carrier network; generating second compression information to replace the header information used for forwarding said frames in said first carrier network; replacing the header information used to forward client payloads in said first carrier network with said second compression information; and appending header information to said client payload to enable forwarding of said received. frame of client traffic in said second carrier network, wherein in a data store. accessible to boundary nodes of said second carrier network, said second compression information is stored in association with one or more of the following: said replaced header information used for forwarding said frames in said first carrier network; said first compression information; and said original header information replaced by said first compression information.