Patent ID: 7424737

Claim:
A firewall device for protocol transforming traffic traversing between an IP-compliant source and a non-IP compliant destination comprising: a firewall device having a first edge connection corresponding to a first network connection and a second edge connection corresponding to a second network connection; at least one of said first or second edge connections further comprising at least one set of virtual hosts for providing network connectivity between the IP-compliant source and the non-IP compliant destination, each of said virtual hosts of said set corresponding to a distinct home through which a connection may be made between said IP compliant source and said non-IP compliant destination; each of said virtual hosts further comprising a communications channel configured to: receive IP-compliant traffic from said source being destined for said non-IP compliant destination; and channel process said traffic in said communications channel to perform a protocol translation of said traffic, thereby transforming said IP-compliant traffic into a non-IP protocol appropriate for said destination.