Patent ID: 7327739

Claim:
A method for communicating information embodied in a payload of an Ethernet-formatted frame from a source served by a first network and destined for at least one destination served by a second network, comprising the steps of: from an Ethernet destination Media Access Control (MAC) address comprised by the Ethernet formatted frame, resolving via an interworking facility an identifying address for the destination, the Ethernet destination Media Access Control (MAC) address encoded for the source by the interworking facility in an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) reply from the at least one destination, the Ethernet destination Media Access Control (MAC) address chosen from a locally available pool of Addresses by the interworking facility; receiving the Ethernet-formatted frame at the interworking facility, the Ethernet-formatted frame also including a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) Tag wherein the tag specifies in a first format the identifying address for destination in the second network; forming a second frame having a second format compatible with the second network and including the payload; and mapping the address specified in the VLAN tag to a second destination address that is of the second format to enable transmission of the second frame to the destination through the second network using the second destination address.