Patent ID: 8111691

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving by a first switch of a first network a second set of information including routing identifiers associated with a second network, wherein the first switch of the first network is connected to a second switch of the second network; transmitting by the first switch of the first network a first set of information including routing identifiers associated with the first network; determining by the first switch whether a conflict exists between the second set of information and the first set of information; and transitioning a conflicting one of the routing identifiers associated with the first or second network to a non-conflicting routing identifier according to the determination of whether the conflict exists between the first set of information and the second set of information; wherein the routing identifiers in the first set of information include primary addresses associated with each of a plurality of switches in the first network, and wherein the routing identifiers in the second set of information include primary addresses associated with each of a plurality of switches in the second network; wherein the conflict exists between the second set of information and the first set of information when one of the primary addresses associated with one of the plurality of switches in the first network is the same as one of the primary addresses associated with one of the plurality of switches in the second network.