Patent ID: 6888837

Claim:
A method of translating addresses in a communication network having multiple overlapping address domains, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an overlapping local address from an inbound address domain, wherein the overlapping local address is a destination host local address from a destination address domain; receiving a translation request message as part of a domain name resolution procedure, wherein the translation request message includes the overlapping local address and further specifies an outbond address domain; and translating an overlapping local address from the inbound address domain into a unique global address that is specific to a specified outbound address domain, wherein the step of translating the overlapping local address from the inbound address domain into the unique global address that is specific to the specified outbound address domain comprises the steps of: selecting the unique global address from among a number of available global network addresses; and mapping the unique global address to the overlapping local address from the inbound address domain exclusively for the specified outbound address domain.