Patent ID: 8879424

Claim:
A method of installing connectivity across first and second network areas interconnected by at least a first Area Boundary Bridge (ABB), the first network area being a link state protocol controlled Ethernet network comprising a first plurality of network elements implementing a first control plane, the first plurality of network elements comprising a first set of Backbone Edge Bridges (BEBs), the method comprising: receiving, at the first ABB from a first set of BEBs, first community of interest identifiers; leaking the first community of interest identifiers by the first ABB from the first network area into the second network area; listening, by the first ABB, for second community of interest identifiers leaked by other ABBs into the second network area; comparing the first community of interest identifiers to the second community of interest identifiers to identify matching community of interest identifiers in the first and second network areas, the matching community of interest identifiers including community of interest identifiers that are common to the first and second network areas; and advertising, by the first ABB into the first network area, the matching community of interest identifiers.