Patent ID: 8315260

Claim:
A network comprising: a switch configured to switch frame between a plurality of remote interfaces via a plurality of virtual interfaces associated with the remote interfaces, and wherein the frame comprises an external virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (VID) associated with the remote interface to select one of the virtual interface; wherein the switch is in a first network domain and the remote interfaces are in a second network domain, and wherein the frame of the remote interfaces is not switched between those remote interfaces inside the second network domain; wherein the first network is a first provider bridged network (PBN), the second network is a second PBN, and the switch comprises a port-mapping service VLAN (S-VLAN) component and a provider bridging S-VLAN component; and wherein the switch adds a second external virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (VID) to the frame, and sends the frame including the second external VID to the second network domain.