Patent ID: 8687485

Claim:
A method comprising: processing packets received at an edge device in a network, where the edge device is a member of a group of devices using a group security association such that packets sent by members of the group of devices utilize uncorrelated sequence numbers that are not unique within the group, by: receiving a unique transform identifier for each member of the group; receiving both a first packet from a first one of the members of the group and a second packet from a second one of the members of the group within a predefined window, the first packet and the second packet utilizing identical sequence numbers; decoding the first packet; using the unique transform identifier associated with the first one of the members to associate the first packet with the first one of the members of the group; extracting the sequence number from the first packet; comparing the extracted sequence number against an expected sequence number for the first one of the members associated with the packet decoding the second packet; using the unique transform identifier associated with the second one of the members to associate the second packet with the second one of the members of the group; extracting the sequence number from the second packet; and comparing the extracted sequence number against an expected sequence number for the second one of the members associated with the packet; and determining that the sequence number of the first packet and the sequence number of the second packet are both valid.