Patent ID: 8811409

Claim:
A method in a network element of a packet data network to route packets with embedded virtual local area network information and an IP header to far end addresses of virtual forwarding instances, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a frame including an embedded virtual network identifier (VNI); looking up the VNI to identify a virtual forwarding instance (VFI), the VFI having a correlated an I-Component Service Identifier (I-SID) and an internet protocol (IP) to backbone media access control (B-MAC) table that is shared with a set of VFIs each having correlated I-SIDs; resolving by the VFI an IP address of the frame to a B-MAC address using the shared IP to B-MAC resolution table; encapsulating the frame with the I-SID and B-MAC; and sending the frame to the remote B-MAC address.