Patent ID: 8094666
Filing Date: 2012-01-10
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. An access node for wireless communication through gateway devices with terminals, the access node including a VMAC handling unit for mapping an original media access control (MAC) address of a terminal to a unique locally administered virtual MAC address for the terminal, the VMAC handling unit comprising: a unit for utilizing a first portion of the virtual MAC address to define a domain for the address, a unit for utilizing a second portion of the virtual MAC address to indicate that the address is a locally administered address, a unit for utilizing a third portion of the virtual MAC address to indicate a unit-specific use, and a unit for utilizing a fourth portion of the virtual MAC address to indicate an organizationally assigned unit-unique MAC address of or related to the access node, characterized in that the unit for utilizing a third portion of the virtual MAC address to indicate the unit-specific use is arranged to utilize fields within the third portion to indicate