Patent ID: 7738467

Claim:
A method of processing a packet sent to a provider network, the method comprising: receiving the packet via a first user port at a first edge switch of the network, wherein the first user port is an input port of the first edge switch; determining forwarding and routing by the first edge switch based on a user VLAN identifier (VID) of a user VLAN tag for the packet; creating a tunnel from the first user port at the first edge switch to a second user port at a second edge switch using double VLAN tagging by inserting a provider VLAN tag, including a provider VID, into the packet at a first provider port at the first edge switch prior to transmission of the packet via the first provider port and stripping the provider VLAN tag from the packet after the packet is received by a second provider port at the second edge switch, wherein the first provider port is an output port of the first edge switch, wherein the second provider port is an input port of the second edge switch, and wherein the second user port is an output port of the second edge switch; and utilizing the user VLAN tag by a middle switch to determine a class of service for the packet so as to provide a user-expected service level in relation to traffic flowing through said tunnel.