Patent ID: 10142171

Abstract:
A novel method of handling network traffic for cable service flows in a distributed cable system is presented. Such a cable systems use remote distribution nodes in the fields to handle RF communications with cable modems in a distributed fashion. A packet engine is configured to assign a logical interface to each cable service flow in the cable system. Each logical interface in the packet engine is uniquely identifiable by a compound identifier that includes the identifier of the corresponding service flow and the identifier of the remote distribution node. The packet engine is configurable to selectively provide L3 level routing or L2 level switching/bridging between different logical interfaces. In some embodiments, the controller selects between configuring the packet engine to perform L3 routing or configuring the packet engine to perform L2 bridging based on whether the packet engine support unnumbered interfaces and integrated routing and bridging (IRB). The packet engine of the cable system is configured to use unnumbered interfaces if the number of available IP addresses for use by the cable system is limited.