Patent ID: 7907595

Claim:
A method of communicating an endpoint address of an Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel by a Customer Edge (CE) network element implementing a Multiprotocol Border Gateway Protocol (MPBGP) peering session with another CE network element, the method comprising the steps of: receiving route information comprising a route distinguisher:ip-prefix, a peering point address of the MPBGP peering session, and the route target; formatting, by the CE network element, a MPBGP route advertisement to include the route distinguisher:ip-prefix, an endpoint address of an IPSec VPN tunnel, and the route target; and transmitting the MPBGP route advertisement over the MPBGP peering session to the other CE network element; and wherein the step of formatting comprises replacing the peering point address of the MPBGP peering session with the endpoint address of the IPSec VPN tunnel; and wherein the peering point address and the endpoint address of the IPSec VPN tunnel are different addresses on the CE network element.