Patent ID: 8588238

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a data packet at a network device; identifying a layer-2 identification (L2ID) value for the received data packet based on a destination media access control (MAC) address and a label stack of the received data packet, the L2ID value specific to an application associated with the data packet, the L2ID value distinct from any MAC address and any virtual private network (VPN) label included in the label stack of the received data packet; creating a 6-tuple that includes the L2ID value, wherein the creating includes generating a 5-tuple that includes a protocol identifier, a source internet protocol (IP) address, a destination IP address, a source port number, and a destination port number, and combining the generated 5-tuple with the L2ID; classifying the received data packet using the 6-tuple; performing deep packet inspection (DPI) services based on the classification of the received data packet, the DPI services applying a set of one or more application-level policies to the received data packet; and forwarding the received data packet from the network device toward a destination.