Patent ID: 6654792
Filing Date: 2003-11-25
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A system for terminating tunnel connections, the system comprising:a first network; a plurality of network devices, each network device having a network interface coupled to the first network and having a local address that is unique on the first network, where each network device is configured to receive a connection request message having a source address field, a destination address field, and a source tunnel identification field and, responsive thereto, construct a connection reply message having a source address field set to the local address of the network device, a destination address field set to the value of the source address field of the connection request message, a source tunnel identification field set to a value selected by the network device, and a destination tunnel identification field set to the value of the source tunnel identification, the connection reply message then being transmitted onto the first network; a master network device having a first interface coupled to the first network and a second interface for communicating with a second network, the master network device having a first global address that is unique on the second network, where the master network device is configured to receive tunnel connection request messages having the first global address in the destination field from the second network and, for each connection request message received, select one of the plurality of network devices, insert the local address for the selected network device into the destination field of the received connection request message, and forward the received connection request message to the selected network device over the first network; and a network address translation device having a first network interface coupled to the first network and a second network interface for communicating with the second network, the network address translation device having a second global address that is unique on the second network, where the network address translation device is configured to receive the connection reply messages and, responsive thereto, create a table entry for each connection reply message that includes the value of the destination address field and the value of the source address field for the received connection reply message, insert the second global address into the source address field of the connection reply message and transmit the connection reply message onto the second network.