Patent ID: 8271680

Claim:
A computerized method comprising: communicating information flows through a single network device between different ones of a plurality of subscriber end stations and nodes of different virtual networks, wherein the single network device includes a plurality of virtual network machines that belong to different ones of the different virtual networks, wherein a subscriber corresponding to each of the plurality of subscriber end stations is currently coupled to one of the plurality of virtual network machines through a different dynamic binding and that virtual network machine communicates the information flow of that subscriber end station, wherein each of the plurality of virtual network machines is virtually independent but shares a set of physical resources of the single network device, wherein each of the plurality of virtual network machines is one of a virtual router and a virtual bridge, and wherein each of the plurality of virtual network machines includes a different network database; snooping each of the information flows; and automatically changing, for at least one of the corresponding subscriber end stations, the coupling to a different one of the plurality of virtual network machines based on the snooping by changing the dynamic binding, wherein the automatically changing of the coupling gives access for the at least one corresponding subscriber end station to a different one of the different virtual networks to which the different virtual network machine belongs, and wherein each of the different virtual networks is isolated from other virtual networks associated with other ones of the different virtual network machines.